Ethanol, disulfiram, and pyrazole: effects on interferon production in mice

The effects of ethanol alone or combined with pyrazole or disulfiram were studied in reference to interferon production. Saline, ethanol (2 g/kg), pyrazole (2 mg/kg), or disulfiram (2 mg/kg) were injected, intraperitoneally, 3 hr after poly I:C, an interferon inducer. Drugs were administered either by a single injection, or twice daily for 7 days, and the mice were sacrificed 6 hr after poly I:C. Sera from mice were pooled, dialyzed, and assayed for interferon by the microplaque reduction method. Administration of ethanol alone reduced interferon production 76% and 66% after the single and the multiple injections, respectively. A similar inhibition of interferon occurred after either pyrazole or disulfiram, with a greater potency for pyrazole. Treatment with pyrazole prior to ethanol reduced interferon production further, but only after the 7-day schedule. All drugs tested affected cellular immunity as measured by interferon production. Moreover, reduced interferon production by these agents was associated with a loss of splenic lymphoid tissue, suggesting that ethanol, pyrazole, and disulfiram could affect susceptibility to viral infection.