Georgescu D, Ferrari-Lacraz S, Villard J
Unité d'immunologie de transplantation, Service d'allergologie et immunologie, HUG, Genève.
Rev Med Suisse. 2007 Apr 25;3(108):1064-9.
In kidney transplantation, hyperacute rejection is mediated by anti-HLA antibody which are also responsible for antibody-mediated acute rejection. In addition anti-HLA antibody are also implicated in the physiopathological mechanism of chronic rejection. The gold standard methodology to detect anti-HLA antibody is based on the complement-dependant-cytotoxicity. This technic is neither specific nor sensitive. New powerful technologies, which are specific and very sensitive, have been developed like Elisa and flow cytometer with fluorescent micro-beads to detect anti-HLA antibody. In this article, we review the importance of anti-HLA antibody in humoral rejection. We also discussed the clinical relevance of the detection of anti-HLA antibody by these new approaches.