Development of Antiviral Drugs for Treatment of Human Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Infections, Particularly in AIDS (Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome) and Other Immunosuppressed Patients

摘要

The report documents progress in attempting to refute or verify the hypothesis that the physiologic cellular responses to cytomegalovirus (CMV) are required for efficient cytomegalovirus replication and accordingly may be a target amenable to antiviral therapy. Papaverine has been recognized for many years as a potent inhibitor of phosphodiesterase, an action that leads to pronounced increases in the intracellular concentrations of both cAMP and cGMP. The antiviral effect of papaverine in CMV-infected cells is difficult to explain on the basis of phosphodiesterase inhibition alone since 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX), which also inhibits phosphodiesterase, is much less effective than papaverine in blocking CMV yields. Thus, the authors are investigating alternative mechanisms through which papaverine may inhibit both the cellular response to and the replication of CMV.