Clinical manifestations and mechanisms of skin reactions after systemic drug administration

Drug hypersensitivity is a complex and frequent, yet widely neglected topic. Drugs and their reactive metabolites may cause adverse reactions, resulting in different types of disease manifestations with presumably distinctive pathomechanisms. Patient-oriented research is rendered difficult by the fact that the reactions appear unexpectedly. New animal models for certain forms of adverse drug reactions have been established and new test systems have been recently developed to better define the causative agent. The significant role of drug-specific T-cells in these reactions constitutes an actually discussed concept. Mechanisms of these reactions and their appropriate clinical work-up will be delineated.

Section editor:Michael Roberts – School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Australia