USE OF VALGANCICLOVIR IN PATIENTS WITH ELEVATED ANTIBODY TITERS AGAINST HUMAN HERPES 6 (HHV-6) & EPSTEIN-BARR VIRUS (EBV)
who were experiencing central nervous system dysfunction including long-standing fatigue
A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled and
Double Blind Study at Stanford University

Dr. Jose Montoya of Stanford Hospital Infectious Disease Clinic has completed his double blinded placebo controlled clinical trial to determine whether patient with Viral Induced CNS Dysfunction, a subset of patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, would benefit from valganciclovir treatment.

Trial enrollment was 30 patients and while the final test results are not yet publically available, the data Dr. Montoya presented at the 2008 International Conference on HHV-6&7 indicated that patients on Valcyte experienced significant cognitive improvement.

The HHV-6 Foundation has supported this group to initiate and design the trial and F. Hoffman La Roche Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of valganciclovir, funded the study in full. This trial was precipitated through a preliminary study conducted by Drs. Montoya and Kogelnik announced at the 2006 HHV-6 & 7 Conference in Barcelona which reported the successful response to antiviral treatment experienced by nine out of 12 (75%) of patients chronically infected with human herpes virus 6 (HHV-6) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and who were suffering from debilitating fatigue for more than one year (median 3 years, range 1 to 8 years). In these patients antibody titers dropped four fold suggesting (a) these patients had active infections (b) elevated antibody levels can be a useful indicator of active infection in some patients and (c) a subset of patients with CFS and elevated antibody levels to HHV-6 and EBV may have an illness that is caused by reactivation of these viruses, and that is responsive to valganciclovir therapy.