Hypersensitivity reactions to drugs

Certain collagen-like diseases are caused by hypersensitivity reactions to drugs. Hydralazine, and particularly procainamide, may produce a clinical picture similar to systemic lupus erythematosus (43). A number of cases of polyarteritis nodosa have developed during treatment with guanethidine and after repeated exposure to the sulfonamides, penicillin, and iodides (44). Nephropathy has been reported following high doses of methicillin and benzylpenicillin (45). 

Abbiati C, Vecchi M, Rossi G, Donata MF, de Franchis R (2002) Inappropriate pemoline therapy leading to acute liver failure and liver transplantation. Dig Liver Dis 34 447 51 Ackerman Z, Levy M (1987) Hypersensitivity reactions to drugs in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Postgrad Med J 63 55-56... 

Ackerman Z, Levy M (1987) Hypersensitivity reactions to drugs in acquired immimodeficiency syndrome. Postgrad Med J 63 55-56... 

Naisbitt DJ, Pirmohamed M, Park BK (2003) Immunopharmacology of hypersensitivity reactions to drugs. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep 3 22-29... 

Hypersensitive reactions to drugs are frequently observed in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. It has become evident in recent years that NSAID are no exception to this rule. 

Considering the magnitude of the problem of delayed hypersensitivity reactions to drugs and the difficulties associated wifli flie lymphocyte transformation test, there is a need to develop sensitive and specific tests that are more easily and quickly carried out, widely apphcable to flie many forms of delayed drug reactions and valuable for use in the clinic as well as the research laboratory. 

This drug is contraindicated in individuals who have had previous hypersensitivity reactions to pentamidine isethionate. Pentamidine isethionate is used cautiously in patients with hypertension, hypotension, hyperglycemia, renal impairment, diabetes mellitus, liver impairment, bone marrow depression, pregnancy (Category C), or lactation. 

The answer is a. (Hardman, p 224.) Epinephrine is the drug of choice to relieve the symptoms of an acute, systemic, immediate hypersensitivity reaction to an allergen (anaphylactic shock). Subcutaneous administration of a 1 1000 solution of epinephrine rapidly relieves itching and urticaria, and this may save the life of the patient when laryngeal edema and bronchospasm threaten suffocation and severe hypotension and cardiac arrhythmias become life-endangering. Norepinephrine, isoproterenol, and atropine are ineffective therapies Angioedema is responsive to antihis-... 

Vancomycin is effective and is the drug of choice for the patient with a history of immediate-type hypersensitivity reaction to penicillin. When vancomycin is used, the addition of gentamicin is not recommended. 

D contact the prescriber and report that the patient is suffering a hypersensitivity reaction to the drug E inform the prescriber that an anticholinergic agent needs to be prescribed to this patient... 

Hypersensitivity reactions Asthma, muscle weakness, and infection with fever prior to quinidine administration may mask hypersensitivity reactions to the drug. Pregnancy Category C. 

Hypersensitivity reactions Make careful inquiry for a history of hypersensitivity reactions. Monitor patients who have had immediate hypersensitivity reactions to penicillins or cephalosporins. If an allergic reaction occurs, discontinue the drug and institute supportive treatment. Cross-sensitivity with other penicillins or -lactam antibiotics is rare. 

The arylpropionic acid derivatives are useful for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, for reduction of mild to moderate pain and fever, and for pain associated with dysmenorrhea. Side effects of the drugs are similar to but less severe than those described for the salicylates. Those who are sensitive to salicylates also may be sensitive to and have adverse reactions when taking ibuprofen and related drugs. Acute hypersensitivity to ibuprofen has been reported in patients with lupus. The hypersensitivity reaction to sulindac can be fatal. The use of sulindac has also been linked to cases of acute pancreatitis. The use of dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) topically in combination with sulindac has been reported to induce severe neuropathies. The concurrent use of ibuprofen with aspirin reduces the antiinflammatory effects of both drugs. Ibuprofen is contraindicated in patients with aspirin sensitivity leading to bronchiolar constriction and in patients with an-gioedema. As with all NSAIDs, renal and liver function should be normal for adequate clearance of the drugs. 

Geriatric Considerations - Summary Well-tolerated in older adults. Adjust dose based on creatinine clearance. Autoinduction of metabolism does not occur as seen with carbamazepine, but drug interactions are still an issue. Many of the CNS effects occur early in treatment and are transitory. One-third of patients with hypersensitivity reactions to carbamazepine will experience cross-sensitivity to oxcarbazepine. 

Most anaphylactoid reactions are due to a direct or chemical release of histamine, and other mediators, from mast cells and basophils. Immune-mediated hypersensitivity reactions have been classified as types I-IV. Type I, involving IgE or IgG antibodies, is the main mechanism involved in most anaphylactic or immediate hypersensitivity reactions to anaesthetic drugs. Type II, also known as antibody-dependent hypersensitivity or cytotoxic reactions are, for example, responsible for ABO-incompatible blood transfusion reactions. Type III, immune complex reactions, include classic serum sickness. Type IV, cellular responses mediated by sensitised lymphocytes, may account for as much as 80% of allergic reactions to local anaesthetic. 

Oxcarbazepine is less potent than carbamazepine, both in animal models of epilepsy and in epileptic patients clinical doses of oxcarbazepine may need to be 50% higher than those of carbamazepine to obtain equivalent seizure control. Some studies report fewer hypersensitivity reactions to oxcarbazepine, and cross-reactivity with carbamazepine does not always occur. Furthermore, the drug appears to induce hepatic enzymes to a lesser extent than carbamazepine, minimizing drug interactions. Although hyponatremia may occur more commonly with oxcarbazepine than with carbamazepine, most adverse effects that occur with oxcarbazepine are similar in character to reactions reported with carbamazepine. 

Blackwater fever is a rare severe illness that includes marked hemolysis and hemoglobinuria in the setting of quinine therapy for malaria. It appears to be due to a hypersensitivity reaction to the drug, although its pathogenesis is uncertain. 

In some drug reactions, several of these hypersensitivity responses may present simultaneously. Some adverse reactions to drugs may be mistakenly classified as allergic or immune when they are actually genetic deficiency states or are idiosyncratic and not mediated by immune mechanisms (eg, hemolysis due to primaquine in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, or aplastic anemia caused by chloramphenicol). 

Immunologic reactions to drugs resulting in serum sickness are more common than immediate anaphylactic responses, but type II and type III hypersensitivities often overlap. The clinical features of serum sickness include urticarial and erythematous skin eruptions, arthralgia or arthritis, lymphadenopathy, glomerulonephritis, peripheral edema, and fever. The reactions generally last... 

Sicherer SH, Leung DY Advances in allergic skin disease, anaphylaxis, and hypersensitivity reactions to foods, drugs, and insects. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2005 116 153. [PMID 15990789]... 

Because of potential toxicity, bacterial resistance, and the availability of other effective drugs (eg, cephalosporins), chloramphenicol is all but obsolete as a systemic drug. It may be considered for treatment of serious rickettsial infections, such as typhus or Rocky Mountain spotted fever, in children for whom tetracyclines are contraindicated, ie, those under 8 years of age. It is an alternative to a b-lactam antibiotic for treatment of meningococcal meningitis occurring in patients who have major hypersensitivity reactions to penicillin or bacterial meningitis caused by penicillin-resistant strains of pneumococci. The dosage is 50-100 mg/kg/d in four divided doses. 

Hypersensitivity reactions to antimicrobial drugs or their metabolic products frequently occur. For example, the penicillins, despite their almost absolute selective microbial toxicity, can cause serious hypersensitivity problems, ranging from urticaria (hives) to anaphylactic shock. 

Cholestatic jaundice This side effect occurs, especially with the estolate form of erythromycin, presumably as the result of a hypersensitivity reaction to the estolate form (the lauryl salt of the propionyl ester of erythromycin). It has also been reported for other forms of the drug. 

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