Clinical Relevance of Pretransplant Testing for Anti-Human Leukocyte Antigen Antibodies in Iraqi Renal Transplant Patients

The use of highly sensitive Luminex technology to assess the immunologic risk of renal transplant candidates have greatly added to the ability of stratifying patients and have paved the way to avoid hyperacute antibody-mediated rejection. Our aim was to understand how much the testing for pretransplant anti-HLA antibodies affects the decision for transplant and survival at 1 year posttransplant.From January 2014 to June 2017, 336 transplant candidates were tested by complement-dependent cytotoxicity and by the Luminex platform for anti-HLA antibodies in our nephrology and renal transplant center (The Medical City, Baghdad, Iraq). All clinical and laboratory data were noted. Our program is a living-donor, blood group-compatible donor program. All transplant patients (sensitized or not) were followed for 1 year, and the Kaplan-Meier method was used to determine survival rate.Mean age of the study group was 34.07 ± 12.4 years. Of 336 transplant patients who were tested, there were 63 (18.75%) sensitized patients and 159 (47.35%) nonsensitized patients. Blood transfusion was the main cause of sensitization. Class I anti-HLA antibodies were detected in 54 of 63 sensitized patients (85.7%), and class II anti-HLA antibodies were detected in 39 of 63 sensitized patients (61.9%). Donor-specific antibodies were detected in 33/63 (52.3%). Thirteen sensitized patients (15.3%) underwent transplant. No incidences of hyperacute rejection were recorded. The 1-year survival of the nonsensitized patient group was 90%, whereas survival was 61.5% for the sensitized patient group.Pretransplant testing for anti-HLA antibodies is undoubtedly useful for assessment of patient risk, to facilitate decisions regarding patient and donor selection, and to plan treatment strategies. The 1-year survival for sensitized patient was lower than for nonsensitized patients. More knowledge, experience, technology advancements, and support are needed to improve the Iraqi practice of transplanting sensitized patients.