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Recently, Gilead Sciences (Foster City, CA, USA) presented a potential cytostatic drug GS-9219. It is a novel lipophilic prodrug of cyprPMEDAP, in vivo releasing the active compound PMEG in a two-step process. GS-9219 has shown a substantial therapeutic potential in treatment of spontaneous non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in dogs and its utilization in the human medicine is prospective. Hence, cyprPMEDAP represents a key intermediate in the intracellular activation of GS-9219. Both acyclic nucleoside phosphonates PMEG and cyprPMEDAP, serving as the basis for development of GS-9219, were discovered and their mechanism of action was investigated in detail at the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. The biological studies using the rat lymphoma were carried out at the First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University.

Contemporary views on the mechanisms of aging and aging variations--progeria and longevity are presented. Replicative aging, the roles of glycation and free radicals on the genetical determination of progeria and longevity are discussed.

The antiviral efficacy of phosphonoformic acid (PFA) was examined on tissue cultures of the human embryonal lungs against the viruses herpes simplex type 1 and 2, herpes zoster, and the human cytomegalovirus using the method of the inhibition of the cytopathic effect and against herpes simplex type 1 and 2 on the tissue cultures of Vero cells using the methods of the inhibition of plaque formation. PFA was demonstrated to inhibit the reproduction of the viruses under study in both tests on tissue cultures. In persistence studies, the cytomegalovirus was not isolated back from the cells of the human embryonal lungs, which gave evidence of its greater sensitivity to PFA. In in vivo experiments, PFA in the form of a 3% ointment suppressed herpetic dermatitis on the guinea-pig skin, when treatment started 6, 24 and 48 hours after infection. In a preliminary experiment on rabbit corneas, an ointment with 3% PFA inhibited herpetic keratoconjunctivitis in time intervals of 1 and 3 hours after infection.

10 diabetics with kidney and pancreas transplantation (6) and with isolated kidney transplantation (4) underwent examination with the aim to produce evidence of cytomegalovirus excretion (CMV) by the urine. To prove the presence of CMV antigen, the authors used monoclonal antibody produced by DuPont. CMV was found to be present in the urine of 4 patients. The examination lasts max. 48 hrs. It yielded no evidence of interdependence between viruria and the serum levels of the CMV antibodies. Tests for CMV in biological material by means of monoclonal antibody is a modern and quick method which, unlike conventional virological procedures (serology, virus cultivation), plays an important part in clinical medicine.