Antabuse (disulfiram) Anyone using this fo... - Macular Society

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Antabuse (disulfiram) Anyone using this for Macular degeneration?

de-luke profile image
10 Replies

Has anyone be using Antabuse for AMD?

What country and hospital? Have you found improment in your vision?

Any other comments?

best regards

de-luke

The Full Scientific Paper Can Be Found Here-

science.org/doi/10.1126/sci...

Summary-

Rod and cone photoreceptors degenerate in retinitis pigmentosa (RP). While downstream neurons survive, they undergo physiological changes, including accelerated spontaneous firing in retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Retinoic acid (RA) is the molecular trigger of RGC hyperactivity, but whether this interferes with visual perception is unknown.

Here, we show that inhibiting RA synthesis with disulfiram, a deterrent of human alcohol abuse, improves behavioral image detection in vision-impaired mice. In vivo Ca2+ imaging shows that disulfiram sharpens orientation tuning of visual cortical neurons and strengthens fidelity of responses to natural scenes. An RA receptor inhibitor also reduces RGC hyperactivity, sharpens cortical representations, and improves image detection. These findings suggest that photoreceptor degeneration is not the only cause of vision loss in RP. RA-induced corruption of retinal information processing also degrades vision, pointing to RA synthesis and signaling inhibitors as potential therapeutic tools for improving sight in RP and other retinal degenerative disorders.

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de-luke profile image
de-luke
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10 Replies
RP1944 profile image
RP1944

Hi, I have never heard of this drug before and certain it’s not used in Cyprus for AMD. Lucentis, Eyelea and Avastin are the injections used here.

oldoakowl profile image
oldoakowl in reply to RP1944

That's fascinating. Assuming others choose to study Antabuse and find they can replicate these findings, it opens a whole new avenue of understanding MD. I guess it's not surprising that nerves would act differently with lower input from the rods and cones, but I was surprised. If you follow this, can you let us know?

abrattelle profile image
abrattelle in reply to RP1944

Cheap Antabuse - onlinecheappills.com/antabu... I'm 66. I stopped drinking when I was in my early-mid 30s, helped by a psychotherapist. Went back to drinking 4-5 years later. Stopped again, went back. Etc. Went through another course of one-on-one therapy with no real results. Entered rehab (outpatient). Stopped again for a while. (Hated rehab.) Started drinking again after a few years. Entered group therapy with an emphasis on AA. Didn't work. (Hated AA.) Two months ago, I went on Antabuse, and the results have been GREAT. I take one dose in the mornings. Over time the urges have diminished; now they only pop up ever so often. I feel like I have a new life.

willnick profile image
willnick

Very interesting. However seems that there have not been human trials as of yet.

StokeySue profile image
StokeySue

All the studies on Google Scholar are early rodent studies or in vitro, and there aren't many of either. The idea if applying directly to the eye to inhibit retinoic acid metabolism is interesting, but it looks to be a very long way from human clinical studies.

Carol_MacularSociety profile image
Carol_MacularSocietyPartner

Dear de-luke,

Our research department have given us the following information regarding Antabuse.

optometrytimes.com/view/alc...

“This cropped up a few weeks ago and it’s an interesting potential re-purposing of a drug called Antabuse. The effects have so far only been seen in mice so we must be cautious about it’s potential as a treatment for AMD. It will need to be tested on humans in clinical trials before we can be sure it is effective at maintaining or even restoring some vision.”

Kind regards,

Carol

de-luke profile image
de-luke

thanks Carol!

de-luke profile image
de-luke

Glad to hear that Atabuse helped curb the drinking urges!

Does it effect your eyesight?

StokeySue profile image
StokeySue

Much as Carol says, there’s a phrase in medical science used to describe a paper that is interesting but describes something that can’t yet be applied to humans in a clinical setting - “it just says in mice”.

It looks as if that paper describes an observed effect of disulfiram in mice, it would take years of work to develop that into we might use - and it would be very likely not to get through all the stages of development

Yes, I take it. I've been taking it for about a year and half. 250 mg per day. My family doctor prescribed it based on articles written about it. Seems to be helping, although my left eye has gone wet and injections have started.

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