Potential role of amphotericin B methyl ester in the prevention and therapy of herpetic keratitis.

Amphotericin B methyl ester (AME), a semisynthetic derivative of amphotericin B, was studied in the rabbit cornea for its potential role in prevention and therapy of HSV, vaccinia virus, and vesicular stomatitis virus. It was effective in the prevention of lesion formation by these three viruses and dose-related antiviral effects were shown. Of these viruses HSV was the most sensitive to AME. The antiviral effect of AME was additive with those of IDU and ribavirin. However, it was not effective in treating established lesions due to HSV and vaccinia virus. Since its mode of action is to bind to the sterol sites of the viral envelope, it is suggested that AME should also be effective against other enveloped DNA and RNA viruses. A new method of therapy for epithelial herpetic keratitis in humans using a combination of AME with MWD is proposed.