Abstract
BACKGROUND Reye syndrome is a rare, yet potentially life-threatening disease characterized by acute encephalopathy and hepatic failure. This report presents the case of an 8-year-old girl with Reye syndrome and seizures after the use of naproxen. CASE REPORT An 8-year-old girl experienced a 3-day episode of fever and abdominal pain. After receiving naproxen (375 mg twice daily) starting from day -3, she exhibited hypotension, tonic seizure, and loss of consciousness (day 1). Physical examination and laboratory test results revealed acute kidney injury, metabolic acidosis, and elevated levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), liver enzymes, and ferritin. On day 2, the maximum values of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, LDH, creatinine, and ferritin were 955 U/L, 132 U/L, 8040 U/L, 2 mg/dL, and >40000 ug/L, respectively. She was given supportive care and recovered after 11 days (day 12), with normalization of kidney function and metabolic abnormalities. To identify possible genetic polymorphisms associated with the patient's symptoms, genotypes were tested using a drug metabolizing enzymes and transporters (DMET) gene chip. Among genes involved in the metabolism of naproxen, UGT1A6 (*1/*2) and UGT2B7 (*1/*2) resulted in possibly decreased function. Other results which may have had clinical significance included homozygote results for NAT2*6/*6 (rs1799930). CONCLUSIONS A rare case of Reye syndrome after administration of naproxen was presented in this case. A DMET gene chip was used to screen for possible genetic polymorphisms associated with Reye syndrome, but the result was inconclusive.