Prevalence of HLA-B*5701 in HIV-infected patients in Spain (results of the EPI Study)
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Published on: March 8, 2012
J Arrizabalaga1, F Rodriguez-Alcántara, J L Castañer
1Infectious Diseases Unit, H Donostia, San Sebastian, Spain.
Background:
A hypersensitivity reaction (HSR) is associated with abacavir (ABC), a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor. Genetic association of ABC HSR with the presence of HLA-B*5701 has been demonstrated in PREDICT-1 study, showing a prevalence of 5.6% in HIV-infected population. However the prevalence of this allele in HIV-infected patients in Spain has not been established yet.
Method:
This is a cross-sectional epidemiological study that included 1,198 patients in 74 centers that serve the HIV-infected population of Spain. HLA-B*5701 was checked both in the hospital lab and one central lab, showing an overall prevalence of this allele of 6%.
Results:
HLA-B*5701 was most prevalent in Caucasian population (6.5%). Concordance between the local and central lab was very high for positive and negative results (95.7% and 99.3%, respectively).
Conclusion:
These aspects define this test as a useful tool for the management of HIV-infected patients.
