Evaluation of the SNP rs2367563 genotyping test as an adjunctive detection tool for dental metal hypersensitivity

Background For the diagnosis of hypersensitivity to dental metals, patch testing has been a gold standard. The lymphocyte transformation test (LTT) has also been introduced for clinical use and established as an alternative method for detecting dental metal hypersensitivity. These tests, however, have some problems such as high false-positive/negative rates. In addition, patch testing involves the potential risk of sensitization primed by test allergens. To overcome these problems, we evaluated a genetic method using the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs2367563 that was originally identified as a nickel hypersensitivity-associated SNP. Methods The efficacy of the rs2367563 genotyping test was evaluated with the LTT as a reference for detecting hypersensitivity to dental metals such as nickel, gold, palladium and tin in 154 Japanese participants. Results The rs2367563 genotyping test yielded relatively high sensitivity (62.5–80.0%) and low specificity (21.1–26.9%). The overall sensitivity and specificity were 73.9% and 19.7%, respectively. Conclusion Genotyping of the rs2367563 involves only simple PCR-based procedures and enables the rapid screening and risk prediction of hypersensitivity to multiple dental metals without any invasive procedure and potential risk of harmful effects on the subjects. However, rs2367563 genotyping is limited to the adjunctive use due to its low specificity, and further improvement in sensitivity and specificity is needed.