Serum antibodies to heat shock proteins are of no diagnostic value for human kidney allograft rejection.

Because of the prevailing evidence that heat shock proteins (hsp) are involved in transplantation immunology, we investigate in this study the serum levels of anti-hsp60, and anti-hsp70 antibodies in human kidney allograft recipients. We analyzed 67 sera from 20 patients immediately before and 2 weeks after receiving a kidney allograft, and from 27 healthy age-matched controls with an ELISA. Eleven kidneys had normal allograft function, six had a mild rejection episode, all of which could be reversed successfully; three kidneys had to be removed later on because of resistant rejection. Hsp antibody frequency and titres were the same for transplant recipients and for healthy controls. In patients receiving a kidney allograft, no difference in the level of hsp-antibodies before and after transplantation was observed. Additionally, anti-hsp60 and anti-hsp70 antibody titres were found to be independent of the clinical course. These data suggest that the determination of anti-hsp60 and 70 antibody titers are of no diagnostic value for renal allograft rejection.