I CHEMIOTERAPICI ANTIVIRALI1

The concept of drug development with specific antiviral action is quite recent. The discovery, in the late ‘70s, that acyclic nucleoside analogs could inhibit the replication of the Herpes Simplex virus (HSV) DNA, was the fundamental step that opened the way to the research on drugs able to deal with diseases caused by viruses. In the ‘80s, the need to fight another disease related to a virus, AIDS caused by HIV, gave a further boost to the research in the field of viral chemotherapy. Currently, several classes of drugs are available for the treatment of viruses such as influenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus, herpes simplex virus, varicella-zoster virus, HBV and hepatitis viruses, cytomegalovirus and HIV. Nevertheless, we however need a continuous and progressive development of antiviral chemotherapy and of the research related to it that can cope with the problem of the effectiveness of antiviral vaccines, the emergence of new diseases related to immunosuppression. In this context, the research of professor Paolo Mantegazza has made a valuable contribution to the understanding of the transforming role of some viruses such as polyomaviruses, including the SV40 monkey vacuolar virus. Professor Mantegazza also made a significant contribution to the synthesis of compounds for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies caused by prions. 1Trascrizione non corretta dall’Autore.