Conditions: HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus
Keywords: Latent reservoir
Allocation: NON_RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Enrollment: 30
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
The purpose of this study is to determine the safety, pharmacology and bioactivity of disulfiram in antiretroviral treated HIV-infected adults. The investigators primary hypothesis is that 3 days of disulfiram will result in an increase in HIV transcription in CD4+ T-cells in patients on suppressive antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Detailed description:
Combination antiretroviral therapy for HIV-1 infection can suppress viremia to below the detection limit in the vast majority of motivated individuals with access to these drugs. However, HIV-1 persists in a small pool of latently infected resting memory CD4+ T cells carrying integrated viral genomes. Although other reservoirs for HIV-1 exist, the general consensus among experts is that latent virus (HIV DNA in resting memory CD4+ T cells) is the primary barrier to HIV-1 eradication. A widely discussed approach for eliminating this viral reservoir requires reactivation of latent HIV-1. Disulfiram, an FDA-approved drug used to treat alcoholism was shown to activate HIV-1 gene expression in vitro, suggesting that activation of latently infected cells in vivo may occur. Our primary hypothesis is that the addition of disulfiram to a stable effective antiretroviral drug regimen will result in a dose dependent increase in HIV transcription in CD4+ T-cells in HIV-1 in patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).

Arms:
arm 1: 500mg disulfiram by mouth per day for 3 days arm 2: 1000mg disulfiram by mouth per day for 3 days arm 3: 2000mg disulfiram per mouth per day for 3 days

Interventions: intervention 1: Disulfiram
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: This study will provide open label disulfiram. Subjects will take 1 dose of disulfiram per day for 3 days.

Protocol document: