HLA antibodies following blood transfusion
Research type
Research Study
Full title
HLA antibodies following blood transfusion in renal transplant recipients
IRAS ID
183917
Contact name
Becky Ward
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
HLA (Human leucocyte) antigens are present on most of the cells in your body. People inherit HLA antigens (or type) from their parents. Antibodies against these HLA antigens are made by the immune system following exposure to somebody else’s HLA antigens, for example after blood transfusion and pregnancy.
Following transplantation, patients can develop HLA antibodies directed against the HLA antigens from the kidney donor, called donor specific antibodies (DSA). Following DSA development, patients are at risk of rejection and transplant failure. As such, mechanisms to limit the development of HLA antibodies ‘sensitisation’ is extremely important in patients pre and post transplantation.
In a retrospective study of patients transplanted at Imperial College NHS Trust, 18.3% of patients developed DSA. We found an association between receiving a blood transfusion after transplant and increased risk of developing DSA. Why this occurs is the basis of our study. We wish to HLA type the blood donors and see whether DSA to the kidney graft is more likely to occur if the blood donor and kidney donor share HLA antigens foreign to the recipient.
If an association between blood transfusion and DSA development is shown then methods to try and circumvent foreign HLA antigen load during transfusion will be vital in order to try and improve transplant longevity. Such interventions will include blood salvage techniques and the use of erythropoietin, both of which should be in place in any active transplant programme. However a positive correlation could mean that HLA matched blood, that is the HLA type of the blood donor and transplant recipient should be identical, could be made the best standard of care.REC name
North West - Liverpool Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/NW/0739
Date of REC Opinion
16 Sep 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion