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Disulfiram use is associated with lower risk of COVID-19: A retrospective cohort study.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Abstract

Effective, low-cost therapeutics are needed to prevent and treat COVID-19. Severe COVID-19 disease is linked to excessive inflammation. Disulfiram is an approved oral drug used to treat alcohol use disorder that is a potent anti-inflammatory agent and an inhibitor of the viral proteases. We investigated the potential effects of disulfiram on SARS-CoV-2 infection and disease severity in an observational study using a large database of clinical records from the national US Veterans Affairs healthcare system. A multivariable Cox regression adjusted for demographic information and diagnosis of alcohol use disorder revealed a reduced risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection with disulfiram use at a hazard ratio of 0.66 (34% lower risk, 95% confidence interval 24-43%). There were no COVID-19 related deaths among the 188 SARS-CoV-2 positive patients treated with disulfiram, in contrast to 5-6 statistically expected deaths based on the untreated population (P = 0.03). Our epidemiological results suggest that disulfiram may contribute to the reduced incidence and severity of COVID-19. These results support carefully planned clinical trials to assess the potential therapeutic effects of disulfiram in COVID-19.

Description

Funder: British Heart Foundation


Funder: VA Boston Healthcare System


Funder: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute


Funder: VA Cooperative Studies Program


Funder: National Institutes of Health


Funder: Harvard Medical School

Keywords

Adult, Alcoholism, COVID-19, Cohort Studies, Disulfiram, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Proportional Hazards Models, Retrospective Studies, Risk Factors, SARS-CoV-2, Severity of Illness Index, Veterans, COVID-19 Drug Treatment

Journal Title

PLoS One

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1932-6203
1932-6203

Volume Title

16

Publisher

Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Sponsorship
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Disease (K23AR069127)
NIAMS NIH HHS (K23 AR069127)
NICHD NIH HHS (DP1 HD087988)
british heart foundation (RG/4/32218)