Taiwanese scientists have identified unusual disease genes pertaining to the potentially life-threatening Stevens-Johnson syndrome and chronic psoriasis. Their discovery could help improve the efficiency of both early-detection measures and prevention medicine, according to the National Science Council.
At a press conference held yesterday, council vice chairman Liao Chun-chen (
In the wake of the establishment of advanced core laboratories, Liao said, a few Taiwanese geneticists have recorded great achievements in the last two years.
Taking Stevens-Johnson syndrome as an example, Chen said the identification of particular disease genes could help prevent the disease.
Stevens-Johnson syndrome, or SJS, is an acute skin condition in which the patient develops multiple red and purple blotches on the skin of the palms, soles of the feet, backs of the hands and feet and the "upper surfaces" of the arms and legs.
Chen said that the most commonly cited cause of SJS is an adverse allergic reaction to a variety of drugs, most particularly sulfa drugs. These drugs are commonly used to treat gout, spasm and malaria, among other conditions.
Chen said clinically there had earlier been no method to predict that certain drugs could cause SJS.
Researchers from both Academia Sinica and Chang Gung Memorial Hospital have analyzed the genetic makeup of more than 100 Taiwanese SJS patients. Their unpublished results suggest that people with certain genes are susceptible to SJS, induced by certain drugs.
"Through the early detection of certain disease genes, which had been identified recently, physicians could avoid giving certain drugs to patients at high risk," Chen said.
In addition, Chen said, clinicians at National Taiwan University Hospital had studied a Taiwanese family with a history of psoriasis.
More than a quarter of the total family members suffer from the disease.
Early this year, scientists began to analyze their genetic makeup and found certain genes associated with psoriasis.
Recently, scientists have narrowed their research down to a certain gene.
"Our future studies of the specific gene would help to establish the mechanisms of psoriasis development," Chen said.
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