Interleukin-2 activated lymphocytes show improved sensitivity for class 1 HLA typing.

The use of phytohemagglutinin (PHA)/interleukin-2 (IL-2) activated lymphocytes for HLA typing and the comparison with those of fresh peripheral blood lymphocytes are described. For detecting class 1 HLA antigens, PHA/IL-2 activated lymphocytes showed higher sensitivity than fresh lymphocytes of the peripheral blood in serological microcytotoxicity testing method. Their reaction specificity for the panel of alloantisera for class 1 HLA antigens was the same. On the contrary, for detecting class 2 HLA antigens, PHA/IL-2 activated lymphocytes showed lower sensitivity than those with fresh B-cells. For class 2 HLA typing, the typing with DNA methods showed the best results. Thus, we conclude that a combination of a serological typing method using PHA/IL-2 activated lymphocytes for class 1 HLA antigens with a DNA method for typing class 2 HLA antigens currently offers the best approach for the detection of HLA antigens.