Trial reportJournal of virology2009
Long-term administration of valacyclovir reduces the number of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-infected B cells but not the number of EBV DNA copies per B cell in healthy volunteers.
Trial report in Journal of virology, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07294547 (Non-Inferiority Assessment of Valacyclovir Versus Valganciclovir as Prophylaxis Against CMV and EBV Viremia in Kidney Transplant Recipients), which is not on this map. Cited by 36 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Non-Inferiority Assessment of Valacyclovir Versus Valganciclovir as Prophylaxis Against CMV and EBV Viremia in Kidney Transplant Recipients: A Single-Center Prospective Randomized Pilot Study.
Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 70 citations in OpenAlex.
- Repurposing Licensed Drugs with Activity Against Epstein-Barr Virus for Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis: A Systematic Approach.CNS drugs · 2025Pooled it
- Trial
- Article
- EBV genome analysis in multiple sclerosis shows extensive viral diversity and links to autoimmunity.NAR molecular medicine · 2026Article
- Valaciclovir therapy for secondary suppression of immune response to herpesviruses: An exploratory study.PLoS pathogens · 2025Article
- Posttransplant rituximab exposure and risk of PTLD in solid organ transplant recipients with EBV DNAemia.Blood neoplasia · 2025Article
- Sumac Polyphenols as Pan-Herpesvirus Inhibitors.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Review
- Epstein-Barr Virus Lytic Transcripts Correlate with the Degree of Myocardial Inflammation in Heart Failure Patients.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Persistent SARS-CoV-2 Infection, EBV, HHV-6 and Other Factors May Contribute to Inflammation and Autoimmunity in Long COVID.Viruses · 2023Review
- Review
- Epstein-Barr virus, interleukin-10 and multiple sclerosis: A ménage à trois.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Article
- Investigation of Long COVID Prevalence and Its Relationship to Epstein-Barr Virus Reactivation.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Sex differences in executive functioning and latent herpesvirus reactivation among bereaved and nonbereaved individuals.Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress · 2019Article
- Respiratory viral infection: a potential "missing link" in the pathogenesis of COPD.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2019Review
- Effect of valacyclovir on EHV-5 viral kinetics in horses with equine multinodular pulmonary fibrosis.Journal of veterinary internal medicine · 2018Article
- Article
- Continuous DNA replication is required for late gene transcription and maintenance of replication compartments in gammaherpesviruses.PLoS pathogens · 2018Article
- Gammaherpesvirus Colonization of the Spleen Requires Lytic Replication in B Cells.Journal of virology · 2018Article
- Vaccine Development for Epstein-Barr Virus.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2018Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) establishes a latent infection in B cells in the blood, and the latent EBV load in healthy individuals is generally stable over time, maintaining a "set point." It is unknown if the EBV load changes after long-term antiviral therapy in healthy individuals. We treated volunteers with either valacyclovir (valaciclovir) or no antiviral therapy for 1 year and measured the amount of EBV DNA in B cells every 3 months with a novel, highly sensitive assay. The number of EBV-infected B cells decreased in subjects receiving valacyclovir (half-life of 11 months; P = 0.02) but not in controls (half-life of 31 years; P = 0.86). The difference in the slopes of the lines for the number of EBV-infected B cells over time for the valacyclovir group versus the control group approached significance (P = 0.054). In contrast, the number of EBV DNA copies per B cell remained unchanged in both groups (P = 0.62 and P = 0.92 for the control and valacyclovir groups, respectively). Valacyclovir reduces the frequency of EBV-infected B cells when administered over a long period and, in theory, might allow eradication of EBV from the body if reinfection does not occur.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.