Background: Allopurinol is the most commonly used drug for the treatment of gout and also one of the most common causes of severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCARs). Human leukocyte antigen-B*58:01 (HLA-B*58:01) is strongly associated with allopurinol-induced SCARs. The aim of the present study was to develop and validate a rapid and economic screening method for HLA-B*58:01.
Methods: The accuracy of duplex allele-specific melting curve analysis using DNA-binding dye for HLA-B*58:01 was evaluated in 150 blood samples with sequence-based typing (SBT) as the reference method.
Results: Fifty HLA-B*58:01-positive and 100 negative results obtained by duplex allele-specific melting curve analysis were completely in agreement with the SBT results.
Conclusion: Duplex allele-specific melting curve analysis is a rapid, reliable and inexpensive assay that is appropriate for screening for the HLA-B*58:01 allele.
Keywords: Allopurinol hypersensitivity; DNA-binding dye; HLA-B*58:01; Melting curve analysis; Severe cutaneous adverse reactions.
© 2018 by the Association of Clinical Scientists, Inc.