THE EFFECT OF ACYCLOVIR ON THE ACUTE AND LATENT MURINE GAMMAHERPESVIRUS-68 INFECTION OF MICE

Mice inoculated intranasally with murine gammaherpesvirus-68 were used to evaluate the efficacy of acyclovir (ACV) in the treatment of acute and latent infections. Effectiveness was measured by infectious virus assay of the lung (site of active replication) and infectious centre assay of spleen cells (site of latency). Intraperitoneal administration of ACV at 6-h intervals starting soon after inoculation was more effective in reducing infectious virus in the lung than was treatment with 12-hourly injections commencing 3 days post-infection. Further, ACV treatment during acute infection resulted in an approximately in-fold reduction in the number of infectious centres in the spleen as compared to placebo-treated animals. However, once latency was established, ACV treatment was not effective in reducing the number of infectious centres in the spleen. This is the first report demonstrating that ACV can be used to minimize the replication of murine gammaherpesvirus in mice at the site of primary infection, resulting in a reduction in the number of latently infected spleen lymphocytes.