Iontophoresis of Vidarabine Monophosphate for Herpes Orolabialis

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases Vol. 154; no. 6; pp. 930 - 934
• Main Authors: Gangarosa, Louis P., Hill, James M., Thompson, Barry L., Leggett, Carol, Kissing, J. Peter
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago, IL The University of Chicago Press 01-12-1986; University of Chicago Press
• Subjects: Acyclovir - administration & dosage; Adult; Antibiotics. Antiinfectious agents. Antiparasitic agents; Antiviral agents; Antivirals; Arabinonucleotides - administration & dosage; Biological and medical sciences; Female; Herpes Labialis - drug therapy; Herpes Labialis - microbiology; Humans; Infections; Iontophoresis; Lesions; Male; Medical sciences; Microelectromechanical systems; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Placebos; Plaque assay; Recurrence; Simplexvirus; Statistical significance; Topical application; Vidarabine Phosphate - administration & dosage; Viruses; Human; Skin disease; Herpes; Infection; Iontophoresis; Chemotherapy; Lip; Viral disease; Placebo; Double blind study; Antiviral; Mucocutaneous; Comparative study
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1537-6613
• DOI: 10.1093/infdis/154.6.930

The cutaneous application of antiviral agents was studied by iontophoresis, a process that increases penetration of most drugs 20- to 60-fold. Twenty-seven subjects with vesicular orolabial herpes were treated one time in a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study: nine received vidarabine monophosphate (ara-AMP), nine received acyclovir (ACV), and nine received NaCl. Ara-AMP-treated lesions yielded lower titers of virus after 24 hr compared with lesions treated with NaCI or ACV (P < .05). Ara-AMP significantly decreased the duration of shedding of virus (P < .05) and time to dry crust (P < .05) compared with the other two agents. There was a trend toward decreased healing time after araAMP treatment.