Quinolone hypersensitivity.
OBJECTIVE
Quinolones are potent antibacterial agents that can cause drug hypersensitivity reactions affecting different organs. A better understanding of the underlying mechanism and the level of crossreactivity within different quinolones is needed to handle and prevent these diseases.


RESULTS
The adverse side-effects caused by quinolones are the result of different immunological mechanisms and cause quite different diseases. The development of an assay detecting quinolone-specific IgE revealed specific antibodies in more than 50% of patients with immediate-type reactions, and the majority of sera also reacted with related compounds. In maculopapular drug exanthemas caused by ciprofloxacin, specific T cells could be detected and cloned. They reacted with ciprofloxacin directly, and crossreactivity to related compounds was detected in approximately 50% of the clones.


CONCLUSIONS
Quinolones can cause drug hypersensitivity reactions by different immunological mechanisms. In-vitro analysis suggests that crossreactivity is common.
Campi
Paolo
P
Allergy Clinic, Nuovo Ospedale San Giovanni di Dio, Florence, Italy. allergy@asf.toscana.it
Pichler
Werner J
WJ
D001778:Blood Coagulation Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced; D003429:Cross Reactions; D017454:Dermatitis, Photoallergic; D004342:Drug Hypersensitivity / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D006968:Hypersensitivity, Delayed / Q000139:chemically induced; D006969:Hypersensitivity, Immediate / Q000139:chemically induced; D015363:Quinolones / Q000009:adverse effects*
D015363:Quinolones