The role of T cells in drug reaction.

T cells are major protagonists of immune-mediated adverse drug eruptions. Immunohistochemical observation as well as isolation and functional characterization of T cells infiltrating the affected tissues provided new insights into the pathomechanisms of the diverse clinical manifestations of drug hypersensitivity, and permitted the recognition of T cell-mediated cytotoxicity against drug-loaded resident cells as a major mechanism of tissue damage.