Valganciclovir has been reported to improve physical and cognitive symptoms in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) with elevated human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) IgG antibody titers. This study investigated whether antibody titers against HHV-6 and EBV were associated with clinical response to valganciclovir in a subset of CFS patients. An uncontrolled, unblinde...

OBJECTIVES Low-dose valganciclovir prophylaxis is still under investigation in renal transplant procedures. Our aim was to assess the cost effectiveness of 450 mg versus 900 mg valganciclovir prophylaxis in kidney transplant recipients. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this prospective trial, 201 kidney transplant patients were randomized (1:1) to receive 450 mg/d (group 1, n = 100) or 900 mg/d (grou...

Dear Editor, The trial of add-on valganciclovir in glioblastoma therapy published by the authors did not provide evidence for activity of the anti-cytomegalovirus therapy. 1 Why do the presented data 2 differ substantially from the data of the controlled trial? The authors created a long-term benefiting subgroup of patients mixed from both arms of the original trial and patients from compassion...

Antiviral prophylaxis with valganciclovir is used frequently in pediatric solid organ transplant patients to prevent Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-induced infections and tissue-invasive disease including post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD). This approach is untested in clinical trials and valganciclovir dosing strategies in children are highly variable. Our objective was to character...

The resistance of cytomegalovirus (CMV) to ganciclovir or valganciclovir is a factor in therapeutic failure and disease progression. CMV strains resistant to ganciclovir or valganciclovir have been associated with specific mutations in the UL97 and UL54 genes. Sequencing of both CMV UL97 and UL54 genes was performed to detect the presence of CMV antiviral resistance in six patients who received...

BACKGROUND Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is a very rare complication of disseminated cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. So far it is mainly described for immunocompromised patients. CASE PRESENTATION A 49-year-old immunocompetent Caucasian male presented with sudden onset of fever and DIC due to primary CMV infection, which was treated with Valganciclovir. CMV-specific IgG-avidit...

OBJECTIVES Posttransplant leukopenia is frequently observed in renal transplant. Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor controls the production of functional neutrophils and their release into peripheral blood. Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor has been widely and frequently used for many conditions and disorders in the field of hematology and oncology. MATERIALS AND METHODS We present the...

BACKGROUND Antiviral prophylaxis against cytomegalovirus has been associated with reduced risk of allograft rejection and improved allograft survival after renal transplantation. This phenomenon might not be fully explained by preventing the indirect effects of cytomegalovirus. The effect of antiviral agents on lymphocyte function in patients treated with modern immunosuppression has not been s...

BACKGROUND A randomized, double-blind study was conducted to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of ganciclovir following oral administration of ganciclovir or valganciclovir for prophylaxis of cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease in solid organ transplant recipients (n = 240/372). METHODS The correlations between individual exposure to ganciclovir during prophylaxis, with CMV viremia incidence during and...

BACKGROUND Elevated immune activation persists during treated human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and is associated with blunted CD4 recovery and premature mortality, but its causes remain incompletely characterized. We hypothesized that asymptomatic cytomegalovirus (CMV) replication might contribute to immune activation in this setting. METHODS Thirty antiretroviral therapy-treated ...