Clinical and Laboratory Evaluation of Idoxuridine (IDU) Therapy in Herpes Simplex Keratitis

Introduction In 1960 Tamm1reported that inhibitors of DNA synthesis could suppress the multiplication of herpes simplex virus in tissue culture. The treatment of herpes keratitis with idoxuridine (5-iodo-2-desoxyuridine, IDU) however, was first suggested by Kaufman.2He and other authors have reported their generally good results in subsequent communications3-16in experimentally induced disease in rabbits as well as in the naturally occurring infection in man. Attempts to repeat this work yielded somewhat less encouraging results in our hands and, therefore, a more extensive investigation was initiated. Our studies reported in this paper include: (1) the effect of idoxuridine on herpes keratitis in rabbits and patients, correlated with the presence or absence of demonstrable virus; (2) the influence of the immune status of rabbits on the clinical and virological course of the disease; and (3) the influence of idoxuridine on virus and host cells in a tissue culture