Am J Psychiatry 1977; 134:371-378
Copyright © 1977 by American Psychiatric Association
Disulfiram toxicity and carbon disulfide poisoning
JM Rainey Jr
The author compared the neurotoxic effects of disulfiram with those of
carbon disulfide, a disulfiram metabolite. The results suggest that carbon
disulfide is responsible for the behavioral and neurological side effects
of disulfiram. If this is so, then some other toxic effects of carbon
disulfide, including parkinsonism, choreoathetosis, and thalamic syndrome
may follow the ingestion of more than 5 g of disulfiram by adults, and
individuals receiving as little as 125 mg of disulfiram per day may be at a
three- to four-fold greater risk for arteriosclerotic cardiovascular
disease than a comparable population not receiving the drug.
