PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to examine the association of HLA-B*1502 
allele with CBZ-induced SJS/TEN in the mainland Han Chinese population.
METHODS: HLA-B*1502 genotyping with sequence-specific primer polymerase chain 
reaction (PCR-SSP) and PCR-sequencing based typing (PCR-SBT) was performed on 17 
CBZ-induced SJS/TEN patients, 21 CBZ-tolerant controls, and 185 healthy controls 
recruited during 2008-2010.
RESULTS: HLA-B*1502 allele was present in 94.1% (16/17) of CBZ-SJS/TEN patients, 
9.5% (2/21) of CBZ-tolerant patients, and 9.2% (17/185) of healthy controls. The 
risk of CBZ-induced SJS/TEN was significantly higher (P < 0.01) in the patients 
with HLA-B*1502. One CBZ-induced SJS patient tested negative for HLA-B*1502, and 
the test result showed HLA-B*3503/B*4601.
CONCLUSIONS: We found a strong association between HLA-B*1502 and CBZ-induced 
SJS/TEN in the Han Chinese population from central and northern China. Combined 
with previous studies of the southern Han Chinese subpopulation, our results 
suggest that HLA-B*1502 is strongly associated with CBZ-induced SJS/TEN in the 
whole Han Chinese population.