Urinary Viral Spectrum in Patients with Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome and the Clinical Efficacy of Valacyclovir Treatment

Abstract

Our previous study showed that the Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) may be the etiology for some patients with interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS); hence, the current study aimed to investigate the urinary viral spectrum in patients with IC/BPS and the clinical efficacy of valacyclovir. Twenty-eight patients were prospectively enrolled for valacyclovir 500 mg twice a day for 4 weeks. Urine samples were collected from IC/BPS patients and 30 controls. The primary outcome was the difference in the visual analog scale (VAS) pain score, and secondary outcomes included changes in the urinary viral spectrum and urinary inflammatory cytokine level (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05094414). Urinary EBV was detected in 14.2% IC/BPS patients but not in the controls. Urinary John Cunningham virus and BK virus were detected in 18 (64.3%) and 2 (7.1%) patients with IC/BPS, respectively, with similar prevalences noted for the controls. No cytomegalovirus, varicella-zoster virus, or herpes simplex virus was detected in the urine samples. The VAS pain score in patients with IC/BPS significantly decreased after 4 weeks (from 7.5 [5.52–9.0] to 5 [1.5–6.0], p = 0.0003). Urinary EBV was undetectable in any sample after valacyclovir treatment, and the decreases in urinary interleukin (IL)-1β (from 0.66 [0.55–0.82] pg/mL to 0.58 [0.55–0.64] pg/mL, p = 0.0034), IL-8 (from 6.81 [2.38 to 29.1] pg/mL to 4.33 [1.53–11.04] pg/mL, p = 0.0361), IL-10 (from 1.06 [0.94–1.18] pg/mL to 0.92 [0.88–1.02], p = 0.0086), and tumor necrosis factor-α (from 1.61 [1.50–1.72] pg/mL to 1.50 [1.44–1.55] pg/mL, p = 0.0079) were significant. Valacyclovir could relieve bladder pain, eliminate urinary EBV, and reduce bladder inflammation.