They include: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and headache. Infrequent adverse effects (0.1–1% of patients) include: agitation, vertigo, confusion, dizziness, edema, arthralgia, sore throat, constipation, abdominal pain, rash, weakness and/or renal impairment. Rare adverse effects (<0.1% of patients) include: coma, seizures, neutropenia, leukopenia, tremor, ataxia, encephalopathy, psychotic symptoms, crystalluria, anorexia, fatigue, hepatitis, Stevens–Johnson syndrome, toxic epidermal necrolysis and/or anaphylaxis. Pharmacology
Valaciclovir is a prodrug, an esterified version of aciclovir that has greater oral bioavailability (about 55%) than aciclovir. It is converted by esterases to the active drug, aciclovir, and the amino acid valine via hepatic first-pass metabolism. Aciclovir is selectively converted into a monophosphate form by viral thymidine kinase, which is more effective (3000 times) in phosphorylation of aciclovir than cellular thymidine kinase. Subsequently, the monophosphate form is further phosphorylated into a disphosphate by cellular guanylate kinase and then into the active triphosphate form, aciclo-GTP, by cellular kinases. Mechanism of action
Aciclo-GTP, the active triphosphate metabolite of aciclovir, is a very potent inhibitor of viral DNA replication. Aciclo-GTP competitively inhibits and inactivates the viral DNA polymerase. Its monophosphate form also incorporates into the viral DNA, resulting in chain termination. It has also been shown that the viral enzymes cannot remove aciclo-GMP from the chain, which results in inhibition of further activity of DNA polymerase. Aciclo-GTP is fairly rapidly metabolized within the cell, possibly by cellular phosphatases.Aciclovir is active against most species in the herpesvirus family.
In 2019, it was the 110th most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 5 million prescriptions. Society and culture
Brand names
It is marketed by GlaxoSmithKline under the brand names Valtrex and Zelitrex. Valaciclovir has been available as a generic drug in the U.S. since November 2009. References
External links
"Valaciclovir". Drug Information Portal. U.S. National Library of Medicine. "Valacyclovir hydrochloride". Drug Information Portal. U.S. National Library of Medicine.