A recently identified gene marker is expected to aid in the early detection of Steven Johnson Syndrome (SJS), a severe adverse reaction to drugs in epilepsy patients, according to the Academia Sinica Institute of Biomedical Sciences.
The institute reported yesterday on a research breakthrough that links a particular genetic sequence to the onset of SJS in patients using carbamazepine, a drug commonly used to control epileptic seizures.
"The main contribution of this breakthrough is that once the technology becomes cheaper and more widespread, epileptic patients will be able to avoid SJS by taking a simple blood test," said Yang Li-cheng (
Yang said the cost of testing had not yet been determined.
SJS is a drug-induced disease resulting in skin inflammation and other symptoms. The disease can be life-threatening in certain cases.
Yang said symptoms include a severe skin rash, inflammation of mucous membranes, vision impairment or loss and respiratory infection.
"Without any complications, the disease takes about 2 weeks to treat. However, it can take up to a month and can be life-threatening. The skin rash is like a severe burn wound," Yang said.
"In Taiwan, SJS is induced by any given drug at a rate of 8.8 patients per million. However, in the US, it's 1.8 per million patients and in Germany the figure is 1.9," Yang said, pointing to ethnicity as a possible factor in SJS affliction.
The institute's research compared the genetic make-up of 44 patients who previously had adverse reactions to carbamazepine to a control group of 101 patients who had used the drug without complications.
"About 10 percent of patients who take epileptic medication will have adverse reactions," said Chang Gung Memorial Hospital neurologist and research team member Hsi Mo-song (
In addition, Hsi said that follow-up research to begin later this year would focus on comparing patients who had taken early-detection tests for SJS to those who had not.
The research team was headed by Chen Yuan-tsong (
The research team's paper will be published in this month's edition of Nature, an international weekly science journal.
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