The inactivation of aldehyde dehydrogenase by disulfiram in the presence of glutathione.

It is shown that in vitro glutathione provides little protection of cytoplasmic aldehyde dehydrogenase against the inactivatory action of disulfiram. This observation provides support for the current explanation of how disulfiram acts in vivo . The results show that the disulfiram-sensitive thiol groups of aldehyde dehydrogenase have an unusually high reactivity; possible mechanisms by which this might arise are discussed.