Objective: Anticonvulsant drugs can cause various forms of skin drug reactions, ranging from exanthema to severe blistering reactions. An association between HLA-B*1502 allele and severe skin reactions have been reported.
Materials & methods: Fifteen patients with severe skin reactions following treatment with anticonvulsant drugs (Carbamazepine, lamotrigine, phenobarbital, primidone) and 15 controls (age-matched epileptic patients taking similar anticonvulsants without drug eruption) were included. They were referred to Mofid Children's Hospital in Tehran, Iran, between Jan 2012 to Jan 2014. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood of all patients and HLA- B*1502 genotype was detected by real-time PCR.
Results: None of the patients was positive for HLA- B*1502, but two patients in control group had positive HLA- B*1502.
Conclusion: The HLA- B*1502 is not correlated with severe anticonvulsant drugs -induced skin reactions in Iranian children.
Keywords: Anticonvulsants; Drug eruption; HLA- B*1502.