Recommendations for living donor kidney transplantation.

This Guide for Living Donor Kidney Transplantation (LDKT) has been prepared with the sponsorship of the Spanish Society of Nephrology (SEN), the Spanish Transplant Society (SET), and the Spanish National Transplant Organization (ONT). It updates evidence to offer the best chronic renal failure treatment when a potential living donor is available. The core aim of this Guide is to supply clinicians who evaluate living donors and transplant recipients with the best decision-making tools, to optimise their outcomes.

High-resolution characterization of allelic and haplotypic HLA frequency distribution in a Spanish population using high-throughput next-generation sequencing.

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) at the HLA-A, -B, -C, -DPA1, -DPB1, -DQA1, -DQB1, -DRB1 and -DRB3/4/5 loci was performed on 282 healthy unrelated individuals from different major regions of Spain. High-resolution HLA genotypes defined by full sequencing of class I loci and extended coverage of class II loci were obtained to determine allele frequencies and also to estimate extended haplotype frequencies. HLA alleles were typed at the highest resolution level (4-field level, 4FL); with exception of a minor deviation in HLA-DPA1, no statistically significant deviations from expected Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE) proportions were observed for all other HLA loci.

Report from the Killer-cell Immunoglobulin-like Receptors (KIR) component of the 17th International HLA and Immunogenetics Workshop.

The goals of the KIR component of the 17th International HLA and Immunogenetics Workshop (IHIW) were to encourage and educate researchers to begin analyzing KIR at allelic resolution, and to survey the nature and extent of KIR allelic diversity across human populations. To represent worldwide diversity, we analyzed 1269 individuals from ten populations, focusing on the most polymorphic KIR genes, which express receptors having three immunoglobulin (Ig)-like domains (KIR3DL1/S1, KIR3DL2 and KIR3DL3). We identified 13 novel alleles of KIR3DL1/S1, 13 of KIR3DL2 and 18 of KIR3DL3.

Clinical relevance of anti-HLA donor-specific antibodies detected by Luminex assay in the development of rejection after renal transplantation.

Background: The role of anti-human leukocyte antigen (HLA) donor-specific antibodies (DSA) detected by Luminex in the development of rejection is not fully understood.

Methods: A study including 369 patients who received transplants from deceased donors with a negative complement-dependent cytotoxicity crossmatch (XM) was performed. From the total of patients, 151 underwent a renal biopsy because of renal dysfunction, whereas the 218 remaining showed a stable renal function, and no rejection was assumed.

Clinical relevance of HLA donor-specific antibodies detected by single antigen assay in kidney transplantation.

Background: Clinical relevance of donor-specific antibodies (DSAs) detected by a single antigen Luminex virtual crossmatch in pre-transplant serum samples from patients with a negative cytotoxicity-dependent complement crossmatch is controversial. The aim of this study was to analyse the influence of a pre-transplant positive virtual crossmatch in the outcome of kidney transplantation.

Methods: A total of 892 patients who received a graft from deceased donors after a negative cytotoxicity crossmatch were included.

Antibodies against heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein K in patients with cardiac allograft vasculopathy.

Background: Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) is the most serious long-term complication after cardiac transplantation. T-cell-mediated immune response has been implicated as the central mechanism for this form of graft rejection, but the role of humoral immunity is still controversial.

Methods: This study investigated whether human leukocyte antigen (HLA) and non-HLA antibodies are associated with CAV and if their presence can be used to identify patients at high risk of developing CAV.

HLA-C and KIR genes in hepatitis C virus infection.

Natural killer (NK) cells are key components of the innate antiviral immune response. NK cell function is regulated by the interaction of major histocompatibility complex class I molecules with NK inhibitory receptors. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of the HLA-C/KIR pair in hepatitis C virus clearance in our population.