A genetic test can help predict whether a patient will have a perilous reaction to a widely prescribed AIDS medication.
Between 5 percent and 10 percent of patients who take abacavir (brand name Ziagen), a highly potent nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, suffer severe side effects approximately two to six weeks after starting on the drug.
Most people at risk for adverse reactions have the gene in question, designated as HLA-B5701. The discovery of this "genetic fingerprint," made by researchers at Royal Perth Hospital in Australia, will allow patients to be prescreened and the potential dangers to be markedly reduced.
"It's an astonishing connection between a genetic marker and the risk of a potentially fatal drug reaction," says Charles Flexner, M.D., associate professor of pharmacology and molecular biology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Abacavir, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, is also sold as Trizivir, which combines it with the drugs AZT and 3TC.
The Australian study was published in the Lancet.
COPYRIGHT 2002 Weider Publications
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group
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