van der Spuy S, Levy D W, Levin W
S Afr Med J. 1980 Jul 19;58(3):112-6.
In August 1977 a patient developed herpes zoster just before she commenced a course of cimetidine (Tagamet; Smith, Kline & French) for a chronic gastric ulcer. She experienced both rapid relief of the ulcer symptoms and, rather unexpectedly, dramatic relief of the herpetic pain and rapid disappearance of the eruption. On the basis of this observation cimetidine was prescribed to 21 patients with herpes zoster. The results continued to be encouraging in all but 3 patients. The trial was therefore extended to other herpesvirus infections. In all but 1 of 7 patients with herpes labialis the blisters were aborted, and in 1 patient with herpes keratitis the result was also encouraging, the attacks being markedly shortened in duration and reduced in frequency. The results of this preliminary trial warrant a systematic scientific inquiry into the potential role of cimetidine in the treatment of hypesvirus infection, as well as a study of the mechanisms involved.
1977年8月，一名患者在开始服用西咪替丁（泰胃美；史克必成公司）治疗慢性胃溃疡之前患上了带状疱疹。她的溃疡症状迅速缓解，而且出乎意料的是，疱疹疼痛也显著减轻，皮疹迅速消退。基于这一观察结果，给21名带状疱疹患者开了西咪替丁。除3名患者外，其他患者的结果仍令人鼓舞。因此，该试验扩展到其他疱疹病毒感染。在7名唇疱疹患者中，除1名外，水疱均未出现；在1名疱疹性角膜炎患者中，结果也令人鼓舞，发作的持续时间明显缩短，频率降低。这项初步试验的结果值得对西咪替丁在治疗疱疹病毒感染中的潜在作用进行系统的科学研究，以及对其中涉及的机制进行研究。
