A research team at Chang Gung Medical Foundation has found that carriers of a certain gene are up to 45 times more likely to have severe allergic reactions to sulfonamide antibiotics, which are widely used to control acne and in the topical treatment of burns.
Researcher Chen Chun-bing (陳俊賓) told a news conference on Tuesday that sulfonamide antibiotics — commonly sold in Taiwan under the trade name Baktar — have been available worldwide for decades, with an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 Taiwanese taking them every year.
Sulfonamides are used to treat a range of bacterial infections, including those in the respiratory and digestive systems, kidneys, urinary tract and genitals, as well as on the skin, and are also commonly found in eye drops and burn ointments, said Chen, a dermatologist at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口).
However, Baktar tablets also consistently rank among one of the top causes of drug allergies in the nation, he said.
While mild reactions are often limited to an itchy skin rash, more severe cases can develop into Stevens-Johnson syndrome, toxic epidermal necrolysis and drug rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) syndrome, resulting in potentially fatal complications, such as organ failure, he said.
Using newly developed whole genome sequencing techniques, the research team spent more than five years exploring the cause of such allergies.
It found that carriers of the gene HLA-B*13:01, who account for about 12 percent of the Taiwanese population, are up to 45 times more likely to suffer severe allergic reactions to sulfonamide antibiotics, Chen said.
Among the cases of severe reactions d, 85 percent occurred in HLA-B*13:01 carriers, he added.
Another researcher, Chung Wen-hung (鐘文宏), related the cases of two Chang Gung patients who developed life-threatening symptoms after taking Baktar tablets to treat acne and a urinary tract infection.
Doctors could use genetic screening to identify people with a high risk of an allergic reaction and prescribe them other types of drugs, Chung said.
The team published its research in last month’s issue of The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, one of the two official journals of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.
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