Does new Hep C drug sofosbuvir have any antiviral activity against coxsackievirus?

[RYO]

Dr Chia has suggested that a new Hep C drug (polymerase inhibitor) may treat chronic enteroviral infections. Does anyone know if any virologist/researcher has put this theory to the test? Can anyone site a basis for why sofosbuvir should work on Coxsackievirus?

 

[vli]

hi @RYO --has he prescribed it to you?

 

[RYO]

No, medication does not come out until 12/8/13. I spoke with a pharmacist who works for Gilead. Their staff members have not tested sofosfuvir on coxsackievirus.

 

[vli]

Well that date is pretty soon. Will you get it? Personally I trust Chia because I think there's substantial evidence for an enteroviral connection and frankly no drugs have been given for it so far, and if Chia thinks this drug may work on the enteroviruses, then I'm all for it. I'm open to be corrected by members far more knowelegable than me about this though.

 

[alex3619]

Interesting.

 

[vli]

hi @alex3619 --not trying to "suck up" to you or anything (!!!!) but you seem to be quite knowledgable abt these sorts of things, what's your opinion of this drug/ and dr Chia's recommendation of it? do you think Chia has something there?

 

[alex3619]

Sofosbuvir does not kill viruses. It slows viral replication if it chemically matches the polymerase used to make new virus. So it slows the spread, and gives the body more time to fight it, but does not itself kill the virus. That is still up to the immune system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofosbuvir

 

[RYO]

It sounds like Gilead's other Hep C drug Ledipasvir (NS5A protein inhibitor) which was studied in combination with sofosbuvir may also be promising for treating enteroviral infections. Any thoughts or comments are greatly appreciated. I suffer from fatigue and significant hip girdle weakness after severe viral illness in May, 2012.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0042682205005283
Testing the modularity of the N-terminal amphipathic helix conserved in picornavirus 2C proteins and hepatitis C NS5A protein

 

[Hip]

@RYO
Thanks for posting this.

In this article a few years ago Dr John Chia said a hepatitis C drug in development should inhibit enteroviral RNA. However, this article did not mention which hepatitis C drug Chia was referring to.

How did you find out it was sofosbuvir that Chia was referring to?

 

[RYO]

I am an internal medicine physician. Dr. Chia helped confirm my diagnosis when I initially became ill. I have contacted him over the last 2 years. I have tremendous respect for the work that he is doing. However, these antivirals are new and Gilead has not tested them against coxsackievirus. A Gilead pharmacist said they would consider a trial but we probably need a virologist, clinical researcher, and a well designed study.

 

[Hip]

@RYO
Isn't Dr Chia going to be pursuing the use of sofosbuvir for enterovirus-assoctiated ME/CFS as soon as this drug becomes available?

Gilead should be enthusiastic for a trial of sofosbuvir for coxsackievirus B, I would have thought. I read that sofosbuvir will be quite expensive because of its high cure rate for hep C. The high cure rate means the drug is only taken for a short time, and then stopped, which apparently precludes mass production economies of scale. However, in the case of coxsackievirus B, I imagine it will probably only inhibit, not cure this virus, so ME/CFS patients would probably need to take this drug long term, which should increase sofosbuvir sales.


Chia's work is extraordinary. If only other researchers would set about replicating his results, particularly his findings of enterovirus VP1 protein and enterovirus RNA in the stomach tissue biopsies of most of his ME/CFS patients.

 

[acer2000]

Its interesting. If you Google "sofosbuvir" you get some links to clinical trials on the clinicaltrials.gov website for its use in Hepatitis. But some of them have a "keyword" of "enterovirus infections" under the section additional MeSH terms. No mention of enterovirus in the body text of the description for the clinical trial though.

For example:

http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT01851330

Could be a sign?

 

[Hip]

Can anyone site a basis for why sofosbuvir should work on Coxsackievirus?

It says here that sofosbuvir is an RNA polymerase inhibitor, so this may be the mechanism by which sofosbuvir could inhibit enteroviruses / picornaviruses.

A while ago I tried taking the drug amiloride, which has been shown to strongly inhibit coxsackievirus B3 replication. This antiviral mechanism of amiloride is through the inhibition coxsackievirus RNA polymerase.

At the doses of amiloride I was taking, up to 15 mg daily, I did not notice much in the way of symptomatic improvements in my ME/CFS, but my tests were only short term (I only took amiloride for a few weeks).

I ought to try amiloride again, taking 5 mg x 3 daily for say three months.


By the way, another patient of Dr John Chia that I conversed with said the hepatitis C drug Dr Chia though might help ME/CFS patients was in fact one from Abbott. If I understood it correctly, I believe this new Abbott hepatitis C drug comprises three compounds: ABT-450, ABT-333 and ABT-267 (see: Abbott Hepatitis C Regimen).

ABT-450 is a a protease inhibitor
ABT-333 is a polymerase inhibitor
ABT-267 is a NS5A inhibitor

Ref: here

 

[Hip]

This is interesting:
The entry of antiviral and antiretroviral drugs into the central nervous system

The above study states that antiviral nucleosides and oligonucleotides appear to have limited entry into the brain when given systemically, which may hinder therapy of viral brain diseases, while some of the protease inhibitors may enter the brain more readily.

If ME/CFS is driven by a coxsackievirus B or echovirus infection of the central nervous system (and studies such as this one indicate that brain infection with coxsackievirus B does occur), then you would need antiviral compounds that can cross the blood-brain barrier and penetrate the CNS.

 

[RYO]

A researcher in Belgium will soon be testing Gilead Hep C drugs against enterovirus in vitro. I will post results as they become available.

 

[acer2000]

FYI -

FDA Set to Approve New Hep C Drug (sofosbuvir)

http://www.npr.org/2013/12/05/248934833/fda-set-to-approve-hepatitis-drug?

 

[RYO]

I just received email from Dr. De Palma from Belgium. New Hep C drugs from Gilead do not have any antiviral activity against enteroviruses.

 

[heapsreal]

@RYO have u tried interferon or chia's oxymatrine??

 

[RYO]

Yes, I took equilibrant for 6-8 months. It helped with fatigue symptoms but did not improve my hip girdle strength. That is when I took Betaseron for 6 months based upon data from Dr. Kuhl who studied betaseron in viral cardiomyopathy patients. Unfortunately, my hip girdle strength only improved approximately 50%.

 

[heapsreal]

Yes, I took equilibrant for 6-8 months. It helped with fatigue symptoms but did not improve my hip girdle strength. That is when I took Betaseron for 6 months based upon data from Dr. Kuhl who studied betaseron in viral cardiomyopathy patients. Unfortunately, my hip girdle strength only improved approximately 50%.

Interesting, thanks for replying.
I just read how immunoglobulin is sometimes used for cardiomyopathy induced by enterovirus?? but from what i read it isnt a common treatment.
Does dr chia prescribe interferon inducers like immunovir?

cheers!!