Liječnički vjesnik, Vol. 146 No. 7-8, 2024.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.26800/LV-146-7-8-3
Screening for Non-HLA Antibodies – the very first results
Marija Burek Kamenarić
*
Lucija Jukić
Renata Žunec
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
Objective: The importance and role of antibodies directed against human leukocyte antigens (HLA) in antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) reactions after solid organ transplantation has been clearly demonstrated. Antibodies against non-HLA antigens (non-HLA antibodies) are also thought to be associated with humoral rejection and may affect graft survival. The presence of non-HLA antibodies additionally indicates an increased immunological risk before and after organ transplantation. The aim of the work was determination of non-HLA antibodies in groups of patients before and after kidney transplantation using validated screening tests for non- HLA antibodies and, based on results analysis determine the frequency of non-HLA antibodies occurrence. Subjects and Methods: We tested one of the two currently available non-HLA antibody assays based on Luminex platform which allows the direct simultaneous detection of IgG antibodies to 60 non-HLA auto-antigens. The tested cohort consisted of 17 HLA highly sensitized recipients on the kidney waiting list (pre-tx group) and 10 kidney transplant recipients (post-tx group) with biopsies showing evidence of AMR in the absence of detectable HLA donor-specific antibodies (DSA). Results: The presence of at least one of non-HLA antibody was detected in 16/17 (94.1%) pre-tx group recipients while in post-tx group non-HLA antibody was detected in 7/10 (77.0%) recipients. The fluorescence intensity for positive reactions was significantly higher in pre-tx group compared to post-tx group. The number of different non-HLA specificities detected per recipient was also much higher in pretx
group. Conclusion: The assay enabled highly sensitive detection and characterization of non-HLA antibodies. The presence of non-HLA antibodies is high in both investigated groups, and the number of specificities and intensity of positive reactions were significantly higher in HLA highly sensitized recipients. Biopsy proven AMR without detected HLA DSA can be associated with the presence of non-HLA antibodies in the post-tx group.
Keywords
HLA ANTIGENS – immunology; HISTOCOMPATIBILITY TESTING – methods; ANTIBODIES; KIDNEY TRANSPLANTATION; GRAFT REJECTION
Hrčak ID:
320254
URI
Publication date:
30.8.2024.
Visits: 0 *