Antiviral treatment with fluoxetine for rituximab-associated chronic echovirus 13 meningoencephalitis and myofasciitis.
Eur J Neurol 2022;
29:3117-3123. [PMID:
35763378 DOI:
10.1111/ene.15478]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2022] [Revised: 05/23/2022] [Accepted: 06/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND & PURPOSE
Enterovirus infections pose a serious threat for patients with humoral deficiencies and may be lethal, while the efficacy of proposed treatment options, such as corticosteroids, intravenous immunoglobulins and fluoxetine remain debated.
METHODS
We investigated viral clearance in a patient with rituximab-induced B-cell depletion and chronic echovirus 13 (E13) meningoencephalitis/myofasciitis in response to intravenous immunoglobulins and fluoxetine using sequential semi-quantitative E13 viral load measurements by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Fluoxetine concentrations in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid were determined by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.
RESULTS
Intravenous immunoglobulins appeared ineffective in this case of E13 infection, whereas virus clearance in cerebrospinal fluid was obtained after 167 days of oral fluoxetine. Since treatment with corticosteroids resulted in a flare of symptoms, rechallenge with viral load measurements was not attempted.
CONCLUSION
In this report of a patient with rituximab-associated chronic echovirus 13 meningoencephalitis viral clearance in response to single treatment options is assessed for the first time. Our observations further support the in vivo efficacy of fluoxetine against enteroviral infections. More research is needed to establish its efficacy in different enterovirus strains.
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