ROCHE'S VALCYTE USED IN CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME STUDY

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have used the drug Valcyte (valganciclovir) -- an antiviral often used in treating diseases caused by human herpes viruses -- to treat a small number of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) patients.

The researchers treated 25 patients during the last three years, 21 of whom responded with significant improvement that was sustained even after going off the medication at the end of the treatment regimen, which usually lasts six months. The first patient has now been off the drug for almost three years and has had no relapses. A paper describing the first dozen patients treated with the drug was published in the December issue of the Journal of Clinical Virology.

The researchers received a $1.3 million grant from Roche, which manufactures Valcyte, to conduct a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study set to begin this quarter at Stanford. The study will assess the effectiveness of the drug in treating a subset of CFS patients.

Chronic fatigue syndrome has baffled doctors because aside from debilitating fatigue it lacks consistent symptoms, according to the researchers, although many genetic, infectious, psychiatric and environmental factors have been proposed as possible causes. More than 1 million Americans suffer from the disorder, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Valganciclovir is normally used against diseases caused by viruses in the herpes family, including cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus and human herpes virus-6, which usually affect patients whose immune systems are severely weakened, such as transplant and cancer patients.