Drug-Induced Autoimmune Diseases

January 20, 2016By Anyssa Garza, PharmDPublicationArticlePharmacy TimesJanuary 2016 The Aging Population Volume 82Issue 1Ten percent of individuals worldwide are affected by autoimmune diseases, with systemic lupus erythematosus being one of the most common.Ten percent of individuals worldwide are affected by autoimmune diseases, with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) being one of the most common.1 Drug-induced lupus erythematosus (DILE) was first recognized in 1945 with sulfadiazine as the offending agent.2 Since then, more than 90 medications from more than 10 drug classes have been implicated in causing lupus.1,3 DILE is estimated to affect 15,000 to 20,000 individuals each year and accounts for 10% of SLE cases.1,2 Risk factors for DILE include being a slow acetylator, having certain serologic features (eg, HLA-DR4 and HLADR0301), having complement C4 null allele, and being female.2Drug-Induced Lupus ErythematosusDILE is similar to idiopathic SLE. However, the prognosis of DILE is...