Terasaki Epitope Mismatch Burden Predicts the Development of De Novo DQ Donor-Specific Antibodies and are Associated With Adverse Allograft Outcomes.

Background: De novo DQ donor-specific antibody (DSA) are associated with antibody-mediated rejection and allograft loss. Given the lack of effective treatment of de novo DQ DSA, their prevention is vital if there is to be an improvement of long-term allograft survival. Using the HLA Matchmaker program, DQ epitope matching has been shown to be superior to HLA antigen mismatching in predicting de novo DQ DSA development.