Acyclovir Essay

Generally, a virus attaches to a specific target cell, fusing its envelope with the cell’s membrane and injecting its DNA into the nucleus of the host cell. Once inside the cell, this viral DNA replicates itself and also uses the existing machinery within the ‘infected’ cell to make more viral proteins. It then assembles itself and will leave the cell to spread to other cells.
The anti-viral acyclovir is taken into the body orally. The acyclovir molecules entering the ‘infected’ cell are converted to acyclovir monophosphate by the thymidine kinase enzyme, an enzyme induced by the virus itself. The monophosphate is subsequently converted to acyclovir triphosphate by enzymes of the host cell, which then gets transported to the nucleus of the
Therefore, in the nucleus of the cell, viral DNA polymerase, responsible for adding in nucleotides (“A”, “G”, “C”, “T”), will recognize acyclovir triphosphate as deoxyguanosine triphosphate (a “G” base) and by mistake will incorporate the acyclovir triphosphate into the growing DNA strand. Further elongation of the chain is impeded as acyclovir triphosphate lacks the attachment site necessary for the insertion of any additional nucleotides. Thus acyclovir triphosphate inhibits viral DNA polymerase by acting as an analog to deoxyguanosine triphosphate and as a consequence terminates the growth of the viral DNA within the ‘infected’ cell. Without affecting the normal cellular process, the anti-viral prevents the virus from multiplying and controls the spread of the infection.
What viruses is this anti-viral effective against and what diseases is it used to treat?
Acyclovir is effective against herpes simplex viruses type 1 and 2, varicella-zoster virus and other viruses of the herpes virus family. It is therefore used to treat diseases that occur in response to the invasion of these viruses. This includes chickenpox, shingles, Herpes simplex labialis (cold sores), genital herpes simplex, neonatal herpes simplex, Herpes simplex encephalitis and herpes simplex