A comprehensive review of acyclovir: synthesis, antiviral mechanism, modifications, and innovative analytical techniques in pharmaceutical applications

نویسندگان

1 AL-Mustansiriyah University, Pharmacy College, Pharmaceutics Department, Baghdad, Iraq

doi
10.22034/crl.2025.492025.1487
چکیده

HSV-1 and HSV-2 are the two main subtypes of the herpes simplex virus (HSV), which causes oral and genital herpes and is common all over the world. In addition, varicella-zoster virus (VZV)-induced herpes zoster (HZ) is a painful neurocutaneous disease. The popular antiviral medication acyclovir (ACV), a guanine nucleoside analogue, is extensively effective against Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), HSV, and VZV by preventing the production of viral DNA. Despite being quite successful, ACV can have negative consequences, such as renal impairment, especially if used for an extended period of time. As a result, therapy is required to be closely monitored. This review highlights the antiviral mechanism and synthesis techniques of ACV while giving a summary of its discovery, pharmacology, and therapeutic uses. It also discusses various modifications of ACV to improve its pharmacokinetic qualities, and effectiveness, and minimize adverse effects. Prodrugs and structural analogues that improve bioavailability and target specificity are examples of such modifications. The paper further discusses the synthesis of ACV, focusing on high-yield and economical techniques. In order to ensure the quality and therapeutic efficacy of the drug, the review concludes by reviewing the analytical methods used to analyze ACV in pharmaceutical formulations and biological matrices, including spectrophotometry, thin-layer chromatography, mass spectrometry (MS), and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

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