A number of 2',3'- and 3',5'-di-O-acyl derivatives of 9-beta-D-arabinofuranosyladenine (1) were prepared and evaluated as antivirals. These compounds, designed as prodrugs of 1, offer a range of solubilities and lipophilicities, as well as a resistance to adenosine deaminase, that render some as being attractive as possibly useful antiviral agents. Of particular note is 9-(2,3-di-O-acetyl-beta-D-arabinofuranosyl)adenine that was found to be effective as a topical agent in a guinea pig model of genital herpes.
A new potent inhibitor of adenosine deaminase (co-vidarabine) was used in combination studies with adenine arabinoside (vidarabine, Vira-ATM) to protect this purine nucleoside from enzymatic deamination to the more weakly active metabolite, hypoxanthine arabinoside. Comparing the combination to vidarabine alone, a significant increase (10-fold) of the antiviral activity of the combined drugs was observed against herpes and vaccinia viruses in tissue culture and subcutaneously, against cranial herpesvirus infections in mice. Several other investigators have also recently reported several-fold enhancement of vidarabine activity by newly described deaminase inhibitors. They observed that plaque formation by several large DNA-containing viruses (herpes, vaccinia, varicella zoster) and an RNA-containing oncogenic virus was markedly prevented by the combination compared to vidarabine alone. In animals, enhanced protection (increased survivors) and/or highly significant increase in the life span of dying mice treated with the 2-drug combination, was also observed compared to vidarabine administered singly. These observations in animals clearly indicate that combination studies with vidarabine (Vira-ATM) and co-vidarabine (deaminase inhibitor) deserve serious consideration as future therapy for systemic virus infections in man including herpesvirus encephalitis.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.