Lack of immunomodulating effect of disulfiram on HIV positive patients

Disulfiram (Antabuse (R)) is metabolized to two molecules of diethyldithiocarbamate, which has been reported to be an immunomodulating agent. In a double blind trial, 15 HIV antibody positive homosexual men were given daily doses of 100 mg or 400 mg of disulfiram or placebo, for 4 weeks. All had a CD4-count below 500 X 10(6)/l and/or a pokeweed mitogen response in a lymphocyte proliferation assay less than 50% of normal controls. None suffered from opportunistic infections. No significant effect of disulfiram on immunological, haematological, biochemical or clinical variables was observed in this short-term trial.