By: Xiaohai Zhang, Evan Kransdorf, Ryan Levine, Jignesh K. Patel, Jon A. Kobashigawa
Published: in Human Immunology 2020; Volume 81, April 2020, 330–336.
Patients: 548
Highlights:
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Article examines the impact of HLA mismatches in eight HLA loci on the development of dnDSA and on rejection in a large cohort of heart transplant recipients.
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HLA mismatches evaluated at the antigen level, the eplet level using HLAMatchmaker, and the epitope level using the PIRCHE algorithm.
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Majority of dnDSA were found to be against HLA-DQ antigens, and the number of dnDSA per mismatch is highest for HLA-DQ compared to other HLA loci.
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Mismatches of HLA-DQ at the epitope level were associated with antibody-mediated rejection.
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Results suggest that HLA mismatches at the HLA-DQ locus are more immunogenic than mismatches at other HLA loci to stimulate the development of dnDSA and to cause graft rejection.