Iontophoretic application of adenine arabinoside monophosphate to herpes simplex virus type 1-infected hairless mouse skin.

Several antiviral agents were applied topically or by iontophoresis to hairless mouse skin inoculated with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), and the chemotherapeutic effectiveness was evaluated. Topical application of iododeoxyuridine, arabinoside A, and adenine arabinoside monophosphate (ara-AMP) moderately decreased the average lesion score, number of mice with paralysis, and number of mice dying in HSV-1-infected animals. Also, the mean survival time was moderately prolonged by topical application of those antiviral agents. When ara-AMP was applied by cathodal (-) iontophoresis to the HSV-1-infected skin, the average lesion score, number of mice with paralysis, and number of mice dying were greatly decreased. Furthermore, the mean survival time of mice was highly increased by cathodal (-) iontophoresis of ara-AMP. The therapeutic efficacy of ara-AMP iontophoresis was much superior to the topical application of iododeoxyuridine, arabinoside A, and ara-AMP. These data suggest that ara-AMP iontophoresis would be the method of choice for the management of HSV-1 skin lesions in hairless mice.