Allopurinol-Induced Stevens-Johnson Syndrome in Javanese Men With Positive HLA-B*58:01.

Background: Allopurinol is the most commonly used drug for the treatment of gout arthritis. However, the use of allopurinol is associated with severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCARs) and life-threatening immune-mediated reactions that include Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS). SJS induced by allopurinol is strongly linked with the presence of HLA-B*58:01 in the Asian population. Such a study has not been conducted in Indonesia. We present two cases with clinical diagnosis of SJS. These patients had Javanese ethnicity, for which evidence on the genetic predisposition of allopurinol-induced SJS/TEN had not been established. Testing for the presence of the HLA-B∗58:01 allele was positive in both cases. Our case report confirms findings from studies in Asian countries that link HLA-B*58:01 and allopurinol-induced SJS/TEN. A larger study is needed to elicit evidence that the HLA-B*58:01 allele can potentially be used as a genetic marker for allopurinol-induced SCARs among different ethnicities in Indonesia.
Competing Interests: Authors AI and CM are employed by Nalagenetics Pte Ltd., Singapore. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
(Copyright © 2022 Ferdiana, Fachiroh, Oktarina, Irwanto, Mahendra, Febriana and Soebono.)