Immunomodulation by allergic contact sensitization: The dinitrochlorobenzene story

Dinitrochlorobenzene, the well-known occupational and experimental contact sensitizer, has been used to test for systemic immunodeficiency, especially in children, and to treat such recalcitrant diseases as warts, alopecia areata, and cutaneous metastatic malignant melanoma. This short review of basic science applied to clinical problems will focus on the growing body of information that supports the topical use of dinitrochlorobenzene to up-modulate the cellular immune system of patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus.