Comparative efficacy of antiherpes drugs in different cell lines.

A selection of antiherpes compounds including bromovinyldeoxyuridine (BVDU), acyclovir (ACV), and fluoroiodoaracytosine (FIAC) were compared for their inhibitory effects on herpes simplex virus type 1 (strain KOS) replication in a wide variety of human, simian, feline, and murine cell lines. The 50% inhibitory doses of the compounds varied considerably from one cell line to another, i.e., from 0.01 to 2 micrograms/ml for ACV and from 0.004 to 0.2 micrograms/ml for BVDU and FIAC. However, the relative order of antiviral potency remained constant, thus (in order of decreasing potency) BVDU greater than FIAC greater than ACV, for all cell lines studied except for the murine embryo cells, in which the order of decreasing potency was BVDU greater than ACV greater than FIAC, and for the feline lung cells, in which the order of decreasing potency was FIAC greater than ACV greater than BVDU.