TreatmentUpdate43: Vol. 4, No. 3, July, 1993
Sean Hosein

In the past DNCB has been used to treat wart virus infection by putting a solution of the drug directly on to wart virus lesions. Applying the drug to the shoulder where there were no lesions has also caused recovery from wart virus infections in about 78% of patients. This suggests that applying DNCB to one site may activate the entire immune system.

Hair Loss

In one hair loss condition known as alopecia areata (an autoimmune disorder caused by a viral infection), DNCB treatment has caused regrowth of hair. The standard treatment for this has been immunosuppressive drugs. Some researchers suggest that DNCB may correct the underlying immune dysfunction in this disorder.

Animal Experiments

DNCB has also been used to treat animals with cancer. When applied directly to skin cancer lesions, the lesions have been observed to disappear. Previously undetected and precancerous lesions have been rendered visible by use of DNCB on the skin of these animals.

Toxicity--Cancer and Drug Allergies

As DNCB is derived from the chemical benzene there are concerns that it may promote the growth of cancers. However, there has been no detectable toxicity in lab animals fed DNCB. Doctors monitoring people with HIV infection who have used DNCB for at least 3 years have not reported the detection of tumors. Since DNCB "resembles" the drug chloramphenicol and related compounds, some researchers thought that sensitivity to DNCB might make treated patients allergic to those drugs. Experiments on humans with DNCB have found that this does not happen.

Toxicity--Food for the Virus Theory

Some researchers have said that use of immune boosters may stimulate the immune system, increase production of HIV and place more cells at risk for HIV infection. Laboratory experiments with cells and HIV have found that increasing the number of CD4+ cells has not caused more of these cells to die. Moreover, results from long-term experiments on HIV-infected humans have found that use of DNCB may do the following:

* reduce viral replication and * maintain the number of CD4+ cells In the next section we will report on findings from a recent pilot study of the drug in people with HIV infection.

REFERENCES:

1. Stricker RB and Elswood BF. Dendritic cells and dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB): a new treatment approach to AIDS. Immunology Letters 1991;29:1191-196.

2. Stricker RB and Elswood BF. Topical dinitrochlorobenzene in HIV disease. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology 1993;28(5):796-797.

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