News Releases & Research Results Risk factors for severe drug eruption caused by sulfa drugs - Prevention of adverse effects by genetic testing -

The results of collaborative research conducted by Team Leader Taisei Mushiroda of the Laboratory for Pharmacogenomics, RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences and Director Yoshiro Saito of the Division of Medicinal Safety Science, National Institute of Health Sciences.

• Severe drug eruptions caused by sulfa drugs, which are widely used as antibacterial and rheumatic drugs, were associated with a specific HLA(*) type, HLA-A*11:01.
  *Genes determining human leukocyte antigens.
• Specifically, the prevalence of “HLA-A*11:01” was 67% in patients with severe drug eruptions caused by sulfa drugs, a significantly higher rate than 17% in the Japanese population.
• The “HLA-A*11:01” identified in the study is expected to be a potential biomarker for predicting the risk of severe drug eruptions caused by sulfa drugs.

This research project was conducted with the support of Research on Regulatory Science of Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices by the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED).
The results of research were published online in the American scientific journal Journal of Investigative Dermatology on January 22

Nakamura R., et al. Association of HLA-A^*11:01 with sulfonamide-related severe cutaneous adverse reactions in Japanese patients Journal of Investigative Dermatology

DOI：10.1016/j.jid.2019.12.025