Pharmacogenetics of drug hypersensitivity

Drug hypersensitivity reactions and severe cutaneous adverse drug reactions, such as Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis, are examples of serious adverse drug reactions mediated through a combination of metabolic and immunological mechanisms that could traditionally not have been predicted based on the pharmacological characteristics of the drug alone. The discovery of new associations between these syndromes and specific HLA has created the promise that risk for these reactions could be predicted through pharmacogenetic screening, thereby avoiding serious morbidity and mortality associated with these types of drug reactions. Despite this, several hurdles exist in the translation of these associations into pharmacogenetic tests that could be routinely used in the clinical setting. HLA-B*5701 screening to prevent abacavir hypersensitivity syndrome is an example of a test now in widespread routine clinical use in the developed world.