Serum and urine concentrations of oral bromovinyldeoxyuridine in humans as monitored by a bioassay system based on varicella-zoster virus focus inhibition.

A simple and sensitive bioassay method for measuring (E)-5-(2-bromovinyl)-2'-deoxyuridine (BVDU) concentrations in human serum and urine has been established. This method is based on the inhibitory effect of BVDU on varicella-zoster virus (VZV) focus formation in vitro. The minimal concentration of BVDU that could be detected in serum by this method was 0.2 microgram/ml. Following a single oral administration of 250 mg BVDU, serum BVDU concentrations of 1.2-2.2 micrograms/ml were attained 1 hr later; at 5 and 7 hr, serum BVDU levels were below 0.2 microgram/ml. Upon repeated administration of 125 mg BVDU at 8 hr intervals, the serum BVDU concentrations reached 0.7-1.1 microgram/ml at 2 hr after the fourth administration. These concentrations are approximately 300-450-fold higher than the 50% inhibitory dose of BVDU for VZV in vitro. Urinary BVDU concentrations were on average 10 to 20 times higher than the serum BVDU concentrations.