Abstract
Purpose: :
Our purpose was to assess the clinical symptoms and quantify infectious adenovirus in rabbit eyes following treatment with FST100, 0.5% cidofovir, Tobradex, and BSS.
Methods: :
Forty eyes of 20 rabbits were inoculated with 500,000 plaque-forming units (PFUs) of adenovirus type 5 following corneal scarification. Rabbits were separated into 4 groups of 5 each. Groups received either topical FST100, cidofovir 0.5%, Tobradex, or BSS for 7 consecutive days beginning 16 hours after viral inoculation. All treatments were given four times a day except for cidofovir, which was administered only twice a day. Eyes were scored daily for conjunctival inflammation, corneal neovascularization, fragility of ocular blood vessels, pus, exudate, eyelid inflammation, and excessive tearing. Eye swabs were taken daily before treatment for the duration of the study. Virus was eluted from the swabs and PFUs determined by standard procedures on human A549 cells.
Results: :
The FST100 group had significantly lower clinical scores (P < 0.05) compared with the other three groups. Cidofovir 0.5% given twice daily exhibited the most ocular toxicity compared with the three other treatment groups. FST100 and cidofovir significantly (P < 0.05) reduced viral PFUs compared with BSS and Tobradex.
Conclusions: :
FST100 had the greatest efficacy in reducing the clinical symptoms of adenovirus infection in rabbit eyes. FST100 and cidofovir were both equally effective in reducing viral PFUs and decreasing the duration of viral shedding. FST100 has the potential to become the drug of choice for adenoviral conjunctivitis in humans.
Keywords: adenovirus • conjunctiva • inflammation