TREATMENT DATABASE

Pentoxifylline (Trental) is a hemorrheologic agent derived from xanthine. A number of stimulants, including caffeine, are derived from xanthine. It improves capillary blood flow by increasing the flexibility of red blood cells and lowering blood viscosity. This double action enables blood cells to squeeze through tiny capillaries with greater ease. Traditionally, pentoxifylline is used to treat vascular diseases, especially those that inhibit blood flow. Pentoxifylline is also used to treat the nausea and headaches associated with altitude sickness.

USES IN ME/CFS: Some clinicians have recommended pentoxifylline in ME/CFS to increase blood flow to the brain. Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) scans consistently reveal lowered blood flow in patients with ME/CFS. In theory, pentoxifylline should resolve that problem.

Pentoxifylline may also address another blood problem common to ME/CFS. The late Dr. L.O. Simpson, a pathologist from the University of Otago Medical School in Dunedin, New Zealand, discovered that patients with ME/CFS had irregularly shaped red blood cells, making it more difficult for blood cells to pass through capillaries. Dr. Simpson believed the decreased cerebral blood flow in ME/CFS was the consequence of abnormally shaped blood cells. Many of the symptoms of inadequate blood supply such as light-headedness, vertigo, and cognitive problems might be alleviated if blood flow were increased.

Apart from pentoxifylline's well-known effects on blood flow, it also has broad antiviral activity. A study conducted in 1993 by a team of Russian scientists found that Trental [pentoxifylline] was an “effective broad spectrum virus inhibitor.” Pentoxifylline also has the ability to inhibit proinflammatory cytokines, which researchers have found to be upregulated in ME/CFS patients.

Treatment rating for Pentoxifylline