«We found that Asian and black patients have a substantially higher risk
of severe cutaneous
adverse reactions to urate - lowering
drugs than do white or Hispanic patients, which correlates with the
frequency of the HLA - B * 5801 gene in their U.S. populations,» says Hyon K. Choi, MD, DrPH,
of the MGH Division
of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology, senior author
of the report that has been published online in Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism.