HLA-A*3101/HLA-B* 1502 Genotyping

Carbamezapine is an anticonvulsant prescribed most often in the treatment of epilepsy, as well as trigeminal neuralgia and bipolar disorder. It is also known to show incidences of cutaneous adverse drug reactions (cADRs) including Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS), toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) and drug-induced hypersensitivity syndrome (DIHS). Severe forms of these hypersensitivity reactions can also cause death. In genome wide association studies, a few SNPs were found to be associated with these cADRs. Among these, the HLA-A*3101 allele has been found to have maximum association with hypersensitivity reactions induced by carbamezapine. The HLA-B*1502 allele is also associated with SJS and TEN in Asian populations.