The Immunogenetics of Cutaneous Drug Reactions.

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are the cause of nearly three to six percent of inpatient admissions and are associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. Cutaneous adverse drug reactions (cADRs) represent the most frequent ADRs observed among patients during hospital stay. Recent investigations have found that various HLA genotypes have a significant association with ADRs, especially immune-mediated ADRs. This chapter is devoted to the description of the immunopathogenic mechanism of these reactions and the specific HLA-drug associations. Also, we discuss the association of other non-HLA genes with the development of cADRs and provide a summary of the currently approved recommendations on pre-treatment HLA genotyping tests.