Antiviral activity of adenine arabinoside and iododeoxyuridine in human fetal intestinal and tracheal organ cultures.

In vitro antiviral activities of two potentially clinically useful antiviral compounds, adenine arabinoside and iododeoxyuridine, were examined in human fetal intestinal and tracheal organ cultures infected with Herpesvirus hominis (types 1 and 2) or vaccinia virus. The two compounds were similarly active against the viruses in organ culture, and minimal inhibitory concentrations could be determined by titration of organ culture fluid harvests into tissue culture or directly in the organ cultures themselves. Minimal inhibitory concentrations were consistently lower in tracheal than in intestinal organ cultures and were consistently higher for H. hominis type 2 than for H. hominis type 1. Thus the organ cultures are promising systems in which to evaluate antiviral activity against those agents that replicate in vitro only in organ culture, and they may have particular application to the study of herpetic tracheitis and esophagitis.