CHEMOTHERAPY OF HERPES-SIMPLEX VIRUS ENCEPHALITIS IN MICE BY DIRECT INTRA-CEREBRAL INJECTION

The effects of 9-ββ-D-arabinofuranosyladenine-5 '-phosphate (ara-A-5 '-P) on herpes simplex virus encephalitis in mice were studied. This drug is a monophosphate derivative of adenine arabinoside (ara-A). When administered by the intracerebral (ic) route, ara-A-5 '-P was highly effective in virus-infected mice in the 17-20 g weight range provided therapy was begun before clinical symptoms of encephalitis appeared. The most effective dose schedule was found to be three daily ic injections totaling 400 μg/day (20 mg/kg) beginning on the third day after infection. Such treatment resulted in a survival rate of 50%-75% among infected mice after six months. In the early stages of many experiments, 90%-100% of the controls died whereas all of the treated animals survived. © 1979 by The University of Chicago.