MATERNAL HLA IMMUNIZATION DURING PREGNANCY - PRESENCE OF ANTI HLA ANTIBODIES IN HALF OF MULTIGRAVIDOUS WOMEN

  • 1 January 1984
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 62  (6) , 323-325
Abstract
The frequencies of lymphocytotoxic antibodies, i.e., anti-HLA-ABC antibodies and anti-HLA-DR antibodies, were studied in 66 women at delivery. They were, respectively, 18.2% and 9% in the 1st pregnancies, 27.3% and 4.5% in the 2nd pregnancies, 50% and 27.3% in the multigravidous women (3rd pregnancy and more). The frequencies of anti-HLA-DR antibodies were lower than those of the anti-HLA-ABC antibodies and both seemed to increase with the number of pregnancies. The specificity of anti-HLA-DR antibodies could be defined in only a few cases. The high frequencies of anti-HLA-ABC antibodies compared with most reports in the literature can be explained by the higher sensitivity of the microlymphocytotoxicity technique used in this study. As patients with demonstrable anti-HLA immunization have shorter random graft survival than patients without demonstrable antibodies, this screening could have clinical application for an improved policy of selecting acceptable mismatches in recipients of kidney allograft transplants.