Inhibitory effects of antiherpesviral thymidine analogs against varicella-zoster virus

Thymidine analogs highly active against herpes simplex virus were compared in their inhibitory action against seven strains of varicella-zoster virus by a plaque reduction assay. E-5-Bromovinyl-arabinosyluracil (BV-ara-U) was most active, followed by E-5 chlorovinyl-arabinosyluracil, E-5-bromovinyl-2'-deoxyuridine (BV-dUrd), 2'-fluoro-5-methyl-arabinosyluracil, 2'-fluoro-5-iodo-arabinosylcytosine, arabinosylthymine, 5-vinyl-arabinosyluracil, acycloguanosine, and 5-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine, in order to decreasing activity. BV-ara-U was more than 10 times as active as BV-dUrd and almost completely inhibited plaque development of five strains of varicella-zoster virus at a concentration as low as 1 ng/ml.