Observational studyPloS one2021
Disulfiram use is associated with lower risk of COVID-19: A retrospective cohort study.
Observational study in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 52 citations in OpenAlex.
- Repurposed drug studies on the primary prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infection during the pandemic: systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open respiratory research · 2023Pooled it
- Tissue factor in COVID-19-associated coagulopathy.Thrombosis research · 2022Pooled it
- Drug Repurposing as a Broad-Spectrum Strategy Against Coronaviruses: Frontiers in Mechanisms and Clinical Translation.Viruses · 2026Review
- Role of the Inflammasome Pathway According to the Expression of Proteins and Genetic Polymorphisms in COVID-19 Patients.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Observational
- Disulfiram as an anti-inflammatory agent: mechanisms, nano-delivery strategies, and applications in non-oncologic diseases.RSC advances · 2025Review
- Exploring disulfiram mechanisms in renal fibrosis: insights from biological data and computational approaches.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Article
- Regulated cell death and DAMPs as biomarkers and therapeutic targets in normothermic perfusion of transplant organs. Part 2: implementation strategies.Frontiers in transplantation · 2025Review
- 3-chymotrypsin-like protease in SARS-CoV-2.Bioscience reports · 2024Review
- The gasdermin family: emerging therapeutic targets in diseases.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2024Review
- An Update on SARS-CoV-2 Clinical Trial Results-What We Can Learn for the Next Pandemic.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Pyroptosis: the potential eye of the storm in adult-onset Still's disease.Inflammopharmacology · 2023Review
- Protein structure-based in-silico approaches to drug discovery: Guide to COVID-19 therapeutics.Molecular aspects of medicine · 2023Review
- Disulfiram: Mechanisms, Applications, and Challenges.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Neutrophils during SARS-CoV-2 infection: Friend or foe?Immunological reviews · 2023Review
- Gasdermin D-mediated pyroptosis: mechanisms, diseases, and inhibitors.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Review
- Inflammasomes during SARS-CoV-2 infection and development of their corresponding inhibitors.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2023Review
- Serum gasdermin D levels are associated with the chest computed tomography findings and severity of COVID-19.Respiratory investigation · 2022Article
- Reactivity and binding mode of disulfiram, its metabolites, and derivatives in SARS-CoV-2 PLJournal of molecular modeling · 2022Article
- Preparation and Characterization of Disulfiram and Beta Cyclodextrin Inclusion Complexes for Potential Application in the Treatment of SARS-CoV-2 via Nebulization.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Gasdermin-D activation by SARS-CoV-2 triggers NET and mediate COVID-19 immunopathology.Critical care (London, England) · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 7 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
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.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.