Nucleic acid hybridization for measurement of effects of antiviral compounds on human cytomegalovirus DNA replication.

A nucleic acid hybridization technique has been developed to study the effect of different antiviral compounds on the replication of human cytomegalovirus in vitro. One laboratory strain of human cytomegalovirus, Ad. 169, and six clinical isolates were studied. Doses needed for 50% inhibition of viral DNA replication were calculated for foscarnet, acyclovir, and arabinosyladenine. The mean 50% inhibition dose values obtained were 179 microM for foscarnet, 82 microM for acyclovir, and 44 microM for arabinosyladenine. This method yields values that agree with earlier reports, and it offers great advantages over usual methods to date for studying inhibition of viral DNA replication.