IN-VITRO ACTIVITY OF ACETYLSALICYLIC-ACID ON REPLICATION OF VARICELLA-ZOSTER VIRUS

Topical application of a mixture of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) and die thyl ether is effective in the treatment of acute herpes tester and po stherpetic neuralgia. To study whether the other-than-analgesic effect s of that treatment could be due to an antiviral activity of ASA the e ffects of the drug an the replication of varicella tester virus (VZV) were assessed by the fluorescent focus assay on MRCS and Vero cells. A SA caused a marked reduction in the spread of infection in MRCS monola yers while in growing Vero cells the effective dose proved toxic. ASA concentrations (5-10 mM) which were effective in vitro against VZV are higher than the plasma concentrations attained in the standard treatm ent of chronic inflammatory states, but are consistent with the skin c oncentration attained by topical application of ASA/diethyl ether mixt ure. These data support similar findings relating the antiviral activi ty of acetylsalicylic acid to influenza virus, CMV, and HIV.