High HLA-DP Expression and Graft-versus-Host Disease

BACKGROUND : Transplantation of hematopoietic cells from unrelated donors can cure blood disorders but carries a significant risk of acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). The risk is higher when the recipient and donor are HLA-DPB1–mismatched, but the mechanisms leading to GVHD are unknown. The HLA-DPB1 regulatory region variant rs9277534 is associated with HLA-DPB1 expression. We tested the hypothesis that the GVHD risk correlates with the rs9277534 allele linked to the mismatched HLA-DPB1 in the recipient.
METHODS : We genotyped rs9277534 in 3505 persons to define rs9277534-DPB1 haplotypes. Among 1441 recipients of transplants from HLA-A,B,C,DRB1,DQB1–matched unrelated donors with only one HLA-DPB1 mismatch, linkage of the rs9277534 A and G alleles to the mismatched HLA-DPB1 was determined. HLA-DPB1 expression was assessed by means of a quantitative polymerase-chain-reaction assay. The risk of acute GVHD among recipients whose mismatched HLA-DPB1 allele was linked to rs9277534G (high expression) was compared with the risk among recipients whose mismatched HLA-DPB1 allele was linked to rs9277534A (low expression).
RESULTS : The mean HLA-DPB1 expression was lower with rs9277534A than with rs9277534G. Among recipients of transplants from donors with rs9277534A-linked HLA-DPB1, the risk of acute GVHD was higher for recipients with rs9277534G-linked HLA-DPB1 mismatches than for recipients with rs9277534A-linked HLA-DPB1 mismatches (hazard ratio, 1.54; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.25 to 1.89; P<0.001), as was the risk of death due to causes other than disease recurrence (hazard ratio, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.00 to 1.57; P=0.05).
CONCLUSIONS : The risk of GVHD associated with HLA-DPB1 mismatching was influenced by the HLA-DPB1 rs9277534 expression marker. Among recipients of HLA-DPB1–mismatched transplants from donors with the low-expression allele, recipients with the high-expression allele had a high risk of GVHD. (read more and editorial)

Primary graft failure after myeloablative allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation for hematologic malignancies

Clinical outcomes after primary graft failure (PGF) remain poor. Here we present a large retrospective analysis (n=23 272) which investigates means to prevent PGF and early detection of patients at high risk. In patients with hematologic malignancies, who underwent their first myeloablative allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation, PGF was reported in 1278 (5.5%), and there was a marked difference in PGFs using peripheral blood stem cell compared with bone marrow grafts (2.5 vs 7.3%; P<0.001). A fourfold increase of PGF was observed in myeloproliferative disorders compared with acute leukemia (P<0.001). Other risk factors for PGF included recipient age <30, HLA mismatch, male recipients of female donor grafts, ABO incompatibility, busulfan/cyclophosphamide conditioning and cryopreservation. In bone marrow transplants, total nucleated cell doses 2.4 × 108per kg were associated with PGF (odds ratio 1.39; P<0.001). The use of tacrolimus-based immunosuppression and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor were associated with decreased PGF risk. These data, allow clinicians to do more informed choices with respect to graft source, donor selection, conditioning and immunosuppressive regimens to reduce the risk of PGF. Moreover, a novel risk score determined on day 21 post transplant may provide the rationale for an early request for additional hematopoietic stem cells (read more)

Subclass analysis of donor HLA specific IgG in antibody incompatible renal transplantation reveals a significant association of IgG4 with rejection and graft failure

Background : Donor HLA-specific antibodies (DSA) can cause rejection and graft loss after renal transplantation, but their levels measured by the current assays are not fully predictive of outcomes.
Methods : We investigated whether IgG subclasses of DSA were associated with early rejection and graft failure. DSA levels were determined pre-treatment, at the day of peak pan-IgG level and at 30 days post-transplantation in eighty HLA-antibody incompatible kidney transplant recipients using a modified microbead assay.
Results : Pre-treatment IgG4 levels were predictive of acute antibody mediated rejection (AMR) (p=0.003) in the first 30 days post-transplant. Pre-treatment presence of IgG4 DSA (p=0.008) and day 30 IgG3 DSA (p=0.03) were associated with poor graft survival. Multivariate regression analysis showed that in addition to pan-IgG levels, total-IgG4 levels were an independent risk factor for early rejection when measured pre-treatment; and the presence of pre-treatment IgG4 DSA was also an independent risk factor for graft failure.
Conclusions : Pre-treatment IgG4 DSA levels correlated independently with higher risk of early rejection episodes and medium term death censored graft survival. Thus pre-treatment IgG4 DSA may be used as a biomarker to predict and risk stratify cases with higher levels of pan-IgG DSA in HLA-antibody incompatible transplantation. Further investigations are needed to confirm our results (read more)

Deleterious Impact of Donor-Specific Anti-HLA Antibodies Toward HLA-Cw and HLA-DP in Kidney Transplantation

BACKGROUND: It is widely accepted that HLA donor-specific antibodies (DSA) are associated with antibody-mediated rejection and graft loss. However, in many transplant programs, preformed anti-HLA-Cw and anti-HLA-DP DSA are not considered in organ allocation policies because their clinical relevance is still uncertain.
METHODS: We analyzed the clinical impact of Cw/DP DSA through a retrospective study, comparing 48 patients transplanted with isolated preformed Cw/DP DSA (Cw/DP DSA group) with (i) 104 matched HLA-sensitized kidney transplant recipients with No DSA at D0 (No DSA group) and (ii) 47 kidney transplant recipients with preformed A, -B, -DR, -DQ DSA (A/B/DR/DQ DSA group).
RESULTS: A positive flow cytometry crossmatch in the Cw/DP DSA group was more frequent than in the No DSA group and as frequent as in the A/B/DR/DQDSA group. Two years after transplantation, the biopsy-proven acute rejection-free survival was worse in the Cw/DP and A/B/DR/DQ DSA groups than in the No DSA group (65%, 84%, 93%, P = 0.001 and P = 0.05, respectively). Accordingly, graft survival was lower in the Cw/DP and the A/B/DR/DQ DSA groups than in the No DSA group (87%, 89%, 95%, P = 0.02 and P = 0.1, respectively).
CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that preformed anti-HLA-Cw and anti-HLA-DP DSA are as deleterious as anti-HLA A/B/DR/DQ DSA. It justifies their inclusion in kidney allocation programs and in immunological risk stratification algorithms (read more)