HLA B*14:01 is associated with liver injury caused by the antibiotic Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole
Andrew Dellinger, assistant professor of statistics, has co-authored research concluding that "HLA B*14:01 is associated with Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole induced liver injury".
This research was presented in April 2019 at the EASL (European Association for the Study of the Liver) International Liver Congress in Vienna, Austria. The work was produced in collaboration with colleagues at Duke University, Mount Sinai Hospital, UNC-Chapel Hill, University of Michigan, Vanderbilt University and Indiana University.
The antibiotic Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole (brand names Bactrim and Septra) is a common cause of drug-induced liver injury, but the genetics behind the injury are unknown. The most likely culprits are the HLA genes, which are known causes of liver injury with other medications.
Each HLA gene tested in this research has many different alleles- the same gene with different DNA sequences. The alleles for each patient with Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole drug-induced liver injury (cases) and for each person from the general population without Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole drug-induced liver injury (controls) were determined.
The frequencies of each allele in cases and controls were compared. Separate analyses were required for each race or ethnicity considered. Among White/Caucasian patients, those with the HLA-B*14:01 allele had approximately 8 times the risk of liver injury from Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole compared to a person without this allele.