Does supplemental creatine prevent herpes recurrences?

While functioning as a general practitioner at the Camp Pendleton Marine Base, the first author treated numerous patients with recurrent genital herpes. Beginning in 1998, a number of these patients failed to return for periodic acyclovir therapy. Inquiries revealed that these patients had all commenced supplemental creatine after their last outbreak, and had experienced no further outbreaks. A literature search uncovered a report that cyclocreatine, a synthetic compound structurally and functionally homologous to creatine, inhibits the replication of cytomegalovirus, varicella-zoster, and herpes simplex types 1 and 2, in low millimolar concentrations; furthermore, dietary cyclocreatine reduces morbidity and mortality in mice infected with HSV-2. The fact that both creatine and cyclocreatine exert neuroprotective and cancer-retardant effects in rodents, encourages the speculation that creatine shares the anti-viral activity of cyclocreatine. Pilot studies to assess the impact of creatine loading on recurrence of oral and genital herpes appear warranted; the impact of creatine on shingles occurrence in high-risk patients could also be explored. Although initially conceived as an aid to athletic performance, creatine loading may prove to have broad preventive and therapeutic applications.