Abstract: Objective: To investigate the relationship between severe drug eruptions caused by antiepileptic drugs in Han children in Northwest China and human leukocyte antigen (HLA) gene polymorphisms. Methods: The peripheral blood of all study subjects was collected, including 20 children with severe drug eruption caused by antiepileptic drugs, 55 children who had been treated with antiepileptic drugs for more than 3 months without adverse skin reactions, and 40 children with normal physical examination. The three alleles of HLA-B*1502, HLA-A*2402 and HLA-A*3101 were detected by PCR-SSP, and the differences in allele distribution frequencies between the three groups were analyzed. Results: The average age of onset of severe drug eruptions was 6.78±3.28 years old, the average incubation period was 15 days. There was a statistical difference in the overall gene distribution frequency among the three groups (P<0.05). The distribution frequency of HLA-B*1502 alleles in the case group was statistically different from that of the tolerance group and the normal group (P<0.05). There was no statistical difference in the distribution frequencies of HLA-A*2402 and HLA-A*3101 genes among the three groups. differences (P>0.05). In the case group, the distribution frequency of HLA-B*1502 alleles was statistically different between the carbamazepine group and the non-carbamazepine group (P<0.05). Conclusion: Severe drug eruption caused by antiepileptic drugs is more common in preschool and school-age children and has a long incubation period. Severe drug eruptions caused by carbamazepine are closely related to the HLA-B*1502 allele. It is recommended that patients screen HLA genotypes before taking anti-epileptic drugs, which will help avoid the occurrence of severe drug eruptions.

Key words: epilepsy, antiepileptic drugs, severe drug eruption, human leukocyte antigen gene