As part of our studies of lethal viral mutagens, a series of5-substituted cytidine analogues were synthesized and evaluated forantiviral activity. Among the compounds examined, 5-nitrocytidine waseffective against poliovirus (PV) and coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) andexhibited greater activity than the clinically employed drug ribavirin.Instead of promoting viral mutagenesis, 5-nitrocytidine triphosphateinhibited PV RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (
Kd = 1.1 ± 0.1
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M),and this inhibition is sufficient to explain the observed antiviral activity.