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Is HLAB genotyping the future of gout pharmacogenomics?

Pharmacogenomic advances have increased understanding of allopurinol-associated severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCARs), demonstrating that HLAB*5801 is a strong risk factor for their development. In some populations, all patients with allopurinol-induced SCARs carry this allele. New treatment recommendations outline how this discovery should influence gout therapy, particularly the use of allopurinol.

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Figure 1: Schematic representation of the decision-making process for allocation of treatment to patients with gout based on the results of HLAB*5801 testing, according to recommendations made by Hershfield et al.4

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Acknowledgements

The work of the author is supported by funding from the Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ), Center for Education and Research on Therapeutics (CERTs), National Institute of Aging (NIA), National Institute of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

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J. A. Singh has received grant/research support from the Savient and Takeda, and has acted as a consultant for Allergan, Ardea, Novartis, Regeneron, Savient, Takeda and URL Pharma.

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Singh, J. Is HLAB genotyping the future of gout pharmacogenomics?. Nat Rev Rheumatol 9, 200–202 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrrheum.2013.20

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