Screening for anti-HIV drugs that can combine virucidal and virustatic activities synergistically.

Chlorcyclizine HCl and ciprofloxacin HCl were shown to have anti-HIV activity. They possess virustatic and virucidal activities against HIV, a murine retrovirus (RV) and several other RNA and DNA viruses. These drugs were screened from a large number of compounds on the basis of in vitro mutagenicity and antimetabolite detection tests. Subsequent studies were based on different exo vivo cell cultures. These two compounds were then tested on an animal model, following standard test protocols, using another retrovirus, maintained as Ehrlich's ascites cell tumour virus (EACTV). The animal mortality and protection tests corroborated the findings obtained in vitro, suggesting that these drugs acted synergistically against HIV, exhibiting both virucidal and virustatic properties.