Detecting mismatched donor HLA types from allograft biopsies - An easily applicable tool for improved individualized risk assessment.

Short-term allograft survival has improved among solid organ transplant (SOT) patients. An increasing number of SOT patients are prepared for re-transplantation because of chronic allograft failure. Lack of HLA typing or incomplete HLA typing of previous donors complicates pretransplant risk assessment, as repeated HLA mismatches may be missed. In addition, a complete HLA type of the donor is essential in the diagnosis of antibody-mediated rejection. We aimed to determine donor HLA types from allograft biopsies from kidney, heart and liver grafts. Graft biopsies were obtained from 13 kidney, heart and liver transplanted patients. HLA typing was performed using q-PCR. Alleles of both donor and recipient origin were detected, and donor HLA type was concluded by deducting known HLA types of the recipient. For all 13 patients, we were able to determine mismatched donor HLA alleles from graft material. These results are promising, because they enable better individualized risk assessment.