Antibodies to human platelet antigens form a significant proportion of platelet antibodies detected in Indian patients with refractoriness to platelet transfusions.

BACKGROUND

The transfusion of platelets is an important therapeutic strategy in bleeding patients with thrombocytopenia. However, some chronically transfused patients fail to achieve the appropriate platelet count increment following transfusion due to the presence of platelet alloantibodies.

OBJECTIVES

The aims of this research were to study the prevalence of platelet alloimmunisation and to characterise the platelet-reactive (PR) antibodies in haematology patients refractory to platelet transfusions in an Indian setting.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

A total of 80 patients with a prior history of multiple transfusions (minimum of five cellular transfusions) were included in the study if they did not achieve an adequate corrected count increment within 24 h of the platelet transfusion. Patients with non-immunological causes of platelet refractoriness were excluded from the study. The test was performed on a blood sample of 4 mL of Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) blood sample in which plasma was separated and stored at -80 °C and underwent batch testing in PAK-2LE.

RESULTS

The overall prevalence of platelet alloimmunisation in our study was 60%. Of the 48 patients who were detected to have platelet antibodies, the combination of anti-human leucocyte antigen (HLA) and platelet-specific (PS) antibodies together constituted the majority of 54·2%. The overall prevalence of anti-HLA antibodies was 51·25% and of PS antibodies was 41·25% in the total study population of 80.

CONCLUSION

The overall prevalence of PS antibodies in our study was greater than that reported by other groups in India and other countries. This needs to be considered, particularly in the management of patients refractory to platelet transfusions, where HLA-matched platelets constitute current best practice.