BACKGROUNDFew studies have been done on acetylator status in ACD. This study determined acetylator status in Iraqi patients with allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) in comparison to a matched control group.PATIENTS AND METHODSThe study included 35 ACD patients and 67 healthy volunteers. The ACD patients were diagnosed clinically and the diagnosis was confirmed by patch test. A detailed history was taken from the patients. After an overnight fast, each control subject and each patient received a single oral dose of 100 mg of dapsone. A blood sample was collected after 3 hours and plasma was separated for determination of dapsone and monoacetyldapsone by HPLC.RESULTSTwenty-six of the 35 ACD patients returned for follow up. The frequency of slow acetylators in healthy individuals was 71.6%, while the frequency of rapid acetylators was 28.4%. The frequency of slow acetylators in ACD patients was 60.0% while the frequency of rapid acetylators was 40.0%. There was no association between the acetylator status, personal history of allergy, patch-test positivity or sites of dermatitis in ACD patients.CONCLUSIONA rapid acetylator status might predispose to ACD, but does not seem to influence other features of the disease.