Distribution of donor-specific antibodies in the cortex and the medulla of renal transplants with chronic allograft nephropathy.

Background: Emerging data suggest that donor-specific HLA antibodies should be more frequently found onto the transplant itself than in the bloodstream. It is now possible to detect such antibodies in kidney transplant needle biopsy samples by flow cytometry. In order to know if the detection of antibodies into such blind biopsy samples depends of the site of the biopsy, we have studied the distribution of antibodies in both the cortex and medulla of 12 transplants removed after graft loss due to chronic allograft nephropathy, and in 10 controls.