Interleukin-10 gene polymorphism (−1082G/A) and allergy to efavirenz in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus

The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between polymorphism in the interleukin-10 gene promoter at position −1082 in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients who had presented allergic reaction due to efavirenz. The study included 63 patients treated at the Hospital São José de Doenças Infecciosas, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil. Twenty-one patients who had presented allergic reaction to efavirenz were compared to 42 patients with no allergic reaction following exposure to this drug. Blood samples were collected for DNA extraction and submitted to the restriction fragment length polymorphism – polymerase chain reaction technique. The −1082AA genotype was significantly more frequent in allergic patients as compared to non-allergic patients (p = 0.019; χ2 = 5.534; OR = 3.625; 95% CI = 1.210–10.860). Likewise the allele IL-10 −1082A was identified significantly more often among efavirenz allergic patients than in the non-allergic group (p = 0.009; χ2 = 6.787; OR = 3.029; 95% CI = 1.290–7.111). These findings suggest that the polymorphism in the interleukin-10 gene promoter −1082G/A can be related to the development of allergic reactions to efavirenz.