Anti-human leukocyte antigen antibodies and preemptive antibody-directed therapy after lung transplantation.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Because the development of donor-specific anti-human leukocyte antigen (HLA) antibodies (DSA) after lung transplantation has been associated with acute and chronic rejection, we implemented a clinical protocol to screen all transplant recipients for DSA and preemptively treat those who developed DSA with rituximab and intravenous immune globulin (IVIG), or IVIG alone.

Methods

We conducted a prospective observational study of this protocol and used the LABScreen Single Antigen assay to detect DSA after transplantation. We compared the incidence of acute rejection, lymphocytic bronchiolitis, and bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) between those who developed DSA and those who did not using Cox proportional hazards models. We used the Kaplan-Meier method to compa

SUBMITTER: Hachem RR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2926224 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature