ISSN:
1744-313X
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
Notes:
It has recently been reported that HLA-DP antigens may play an important role in the development of graft-versus-host disease (G VHD) following transplantation of haploidentical bone marrow as a treatment for haematological malignancies. Mixed lymphocyte culture (MLC) is routinely performed prior to bone marrow transplantation to assess the suitability of the donor, and we have therefore examined the role of HLA-DP in this test. One-way MLC chequerboard experiments were performed between 17 HLA-Dw3 homozygous typing cells (HTC) with a range of HLA-DP antigens represented, including HLA-DPw1, w2, w3, w4 and CP63. The experiments were performed on multiple occasions and each time a highly significant difference (P= 〈0.001) was observed between the Relative Responses (RR) in the HLA-DP matched responder/stimulator pairs and the HLA-DP mismatched pairs. There was, however, considerable overlap in these results with ranges in the HLA-DP-matched group RRs of 0–17%, and 0–62% in the mismatched group. Only 3.1% of the HLA-DP-matched group had a RR〉5%, while 48% of the HLA-DP mismatched group had a RR〉5%. From these results it was calculated that a positive response (〉 5%) has a 96% chance of being due to an HLA-DP disparity of one or two antigens. Conversely, with a negative MLC the chance of their being no HLA-DP antigen disparity was only 65%. From these results we conclude, firstly, that HLA-DP has a significant influence on the MLC. Secondly, it is clear that a negative MLC does not necessarily indicate identity at the HLA-DP locus. An increased incidence of bone marrow transplants mismatched at HLA-DP would be expected from increased use of phenotypically identical, but unrelated, donors and related donors sharing only one haplotype with the recipient. It would thus seem important to consider the HLA-DP type of all patients and potential donors prior to bone marrow transplantation, since a negative MLC is not sufficient to eliminate HLA-DP disparity.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-313X.1988.tb00427.x
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