Open AccessAN UNEXPECTED EFFECT OF MATCHING FOR HLA-A9 IN RENAL TRANSPLANTATION
Author(s) -
Dobbe Cm,
J. Thorogood,
de Lange P,
J. D’Amaro,
Persijn Gg,
Giphart Mj
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
transplantation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.45
H-Index - 204
eISSN - 1534-6080
pISSN - 0041-1337
DOI - 10.1097/00007890-199009000-00017
Subject(s) - human leukocyte antigen , kidney transplantation , transplantation , medicine , graft rejection , immunology , kidney , immune system , antigen
The observation of elevated levels of HLA class I molecules in sera of HLA-A9-positive individuals, and their potential role in the regulation of the immune response, motivated us to study the effect of the presence of HLA-A9 in either kidney donor or recipient on graft survival. Analysis of data from unrelated first transplants performed within the Eurotransplant area revealed that in the group of patients who were not treated with cyclosporine (n = 2051), transplants with no HLA-DR mismatches in which donors (D) and recipients (R) shared the HLA-A9 antigen (D+R+), had significantly poorer graft survival (P = 0.0001) than all other combinations, reaching a 20% difference at 5 years posttransplantation. This effect, which was not found in the CsA-treated patient group (n = 7297), was specific for HLA-A9. The implications of this findings are discussed in relation to the mechanisms of the alloimmune response.