Valgancyclovir for cytomegalovirus doesn't seem to be the answer

[gbells]

I just finished looking over how cytomegalovirus stops apoptosis in the cell. This thing is a beast. It makes several proteins that completely block apoptosis across multiple pathways. My question is how can valganciclovir (vg) work with something like this? If a patient takes vg then it stops the virus from replicating in the cell. However, there is still live virus so as the cell divides it will still continue to have live virus in it. Let's say a patient treats for two years. Now the amount of live virus per cell is decreased however as soon as the vg is stopped the virus comes back to life and continues to produce new copies and it would only be a matter of time before the SIEDs patient becomes more disabled and loses their gains.

I think the only real treatment option would be a gene therapy like CRISPR that would remove the virus directly.

 

[Hip]

This is an account of a moderate cytomegalovirus ME/CFS patient who experienced full remission through Valcyte 900 mg daily. But when he stops Valcyte, the ME/CFS returns within a few months. He's experienced this several times. So in order to keep in full remission, he finds he needs to continue taking the drug.

Some other Valcyte recovery and improvements stories in this post.

I think the only real treatment option would be a gene therapy like CRISPR that would remove the virus directly.

Unlike HHV-6, cytomegalovirus does not chromosomally integrate itself into human DNA.

 

[Hip]

A potent new anti-cytomegalovirus drug called letermovir is now available. This may be safer to take long term, but is very expensive.

 

[gbells]

A potent new anti-cytomegalovirus drug called letermovir is now available. This may be safer to take long term, but is very expensive.

Letermovir is a terminase inhibitor. It works by preventing assembly of CMV within the cell. There doesn't seem to be much of an advantage of it vs valgancyclovir because either way you end up with a colony of infected cells that will start growing when you stop the drug. So the problem with both drugs is the same.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4531042/

 

[Hip]

If you look at some the Valcyte success stories I linked to above, you find that some patients need to keep taking this drug indefinitely in order to maintain their improvements in health. By contrast, other patients have found that taking Valcyte for a year and then stopping completely permanently improves their ME/CFS, and these improvements have sustained themselves for many years after stopping the drug.

So if you are lucky, Valcyte will lead to permanent improvements, which remain after you stop the drug.

If you are less lucky, Valcyte will lead to improvements that are only maintained if you keep taking the drug.

And if you are unlucky, Valcyte will not work at all for you.


So for some people, taking Valcyte indefinitely for many years is the only way to maintain their health improvements. But Valcyte is not the safest of drugs to take long-term. Thus letermovir may be a safer option if you need to take an antiviral drug for cytomegalovirus indefinitely.

 

[gbells]

Unfortunately, most of the peop;le didn't say which infections they had. There are too many reactivations with these drugs. We need something that is curative.