Desipramine-, not tartrazine-, induced drug eruption

A 46-year-old woman's antidepressant therapy was changed from doxepin to desipramine because of sedative side effects. Within ten days of initiation of desipramine, a pruritic, morbilliform rash developed. The rash extended despite attempts to continue therapy with a tartrazine-free desipramine as well as antihistamines and prednisone. The rash promptly improved when desipramine was discontinued. Classic drug eruptions are quite uncommon with tricyclic antidepressants. Tartrazine, a common additive in the food and drug industry, is implicated in a number of hypersensitivity reactions. Our report presents an apparent case of desipramine-induced drug rash independent of tartrazine, and discusses the nonassociation of tartrazine.