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letter
. 2021 Oct 25;44(12):1653. doi: 10.1002/clc.23745

Efavirenz, dysrhythmia and HIV

Rujittika Mungmunpuntipantip 1,, Viroj Wiwanitkit 2
PMCID: PMC8715405  PMID: 34694012

To the Editor

We would like to share ideas on “Association between exposure to Efavirenz and substrates of dysrhythmia in HIV‐infected young adults.” 1 Hosseini et al. concluded, “patients with Efavirenz had higher prevalence of frequent PVC, frequent PAC, total significant dysrhythmia, Low HRV and prolonged QTc than controls.” 1 The Efavirenez is widely mentioned for effect on cardiac rhythm. An important determinant is underlying genetic factors. CYP2B6*6*6 allele carrier is associated with cardiac rhythm problem in person with HIV receiving Efavirenez. 2 It is interesting to assess background genetic factors in case and control group in the report by Hosseini et al. 1 In a previous report from Iran, CYP2B6*6 was common in Iran population 3 and it might be an explanation for the high frequency of cardiac dysrhythmia among HIV cases receiving Efavirenez in the study by Hosseini et al.

REFERENCES

  • 1. Hosseini Z, Mollazadeh R, Dehghan‐Manshadi SA, et al. Association between exposure to Efavirenz and substrates of dysrhythmia in HIV‐infected young adults. Clin Cardiol. 2021;44:1448‐1456. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 2. Abdelhady AM, Shugg T, Thong N, et al. Overholser BR.J Efavirenz inhibits the human ether‐A‐Go‐Go related current (hERG) and induces QT interval prolongation in CYP2B6*6*6 allele carriers. Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2016;27(10):1206‐1213. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 3. Zakeri S, Amiri N, Pirahmadi S, Dinparast DN. Genetic variability of CYP2B6 polymorphisms in southeast Iranian population: implications for malaria and HIV/AIDS treatment. Arch Iran Med. 2014;17(10):685‐691. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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