[Pharmacogenetic research in the association between human leukocyte antigen and adverse drug reactions]

With the rapid development of pharmacogenetics, more and more studies have shown evidence in the association between polymorphisms at the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) loci and severe adverse drug reactions (SADRs). Several HLA-B alleles proved to be associated with SADRs for drugs such as carbamazepine, allopurinol, lamotrigine, and flucloxacillin. The USA Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has even recommended routine screening for HLA-B allele before the use of abacavir and carbamazepine. With the completion of human genome project and the Hapmap project, several new pharmacogenetics approaches such as genome-wide association study (GWAS) have emerged. These newly developed methods will undoubtedly accelerate the identification and clinical utilization of the pharmacogenetic biomakers. In addition, the immunogenetic mechanisms by which the HLA alleles cause SADRs are explored at the cellular and molecular level. This review focuses on the recent progresses in HLA alleles and ADRs regarding both the clinical translation and modern pharmacogenetic methods.