Results
Nineteen patients (14 males and 5 females) presented with symptoms
highly suspicious for SSLR to beta-lactam antibiotics including
penicillins and cephalosporins. Clinical symptoms included joint
inflammation (arthritis) that included hands, feet, or both and
cutaneous lesions (maculopapular, EM, urticaria). The mean age of the
patients was 9.9 years and ranged from 11 months to 67 years. The
characteristics of the patient population is summarized in Table 1. When
blood samples were obtained from the 19 patients and 19 other age and
gender-matched healthy volunteer cohort, all patients had positive LTA
test results using a cut-off value of 20% increase in cell death
(Figure 1). At 125 µM of the drug and in the presence of
phenobarbitone-induced rat liver microsomes (MICs), degree of cell death
was significantly higher (p<0.05) in cells isolated from
beta-lactam-induced SSLR patients (48%±5.6) than cells from healthy
controls (8%±4.6).