Racial differences in the development of de-novo donor-specific antibodies and treated antibody-mediated rejection after heart transplantation.

Background: Despite improvements in outcomes after heart transplantation, black recipients have worse survival compared with non-black recipients. The source of such disparate outcomes remains largely unknown. We hypothesize that a propensity to generate de-novo donor-specific antibodies (dnDSA) and subsequent antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) may account for racial differences in sub-optimal outcomes after heart transplant.

De novo DQ donor-specific antibodies are associated with worse outcomes compared to non-DQ de novo donor-specific antibodies following heart transplantation.

Background: Antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) resulting from de novo donor-specific antibodies (dnDSA) leads to adverse outcomes following heart transplantation (HTx). It remains unclear what role dnDSA to specific HLA antigens play in adverse outcomes. This study compares outcomes in patients developing dnDSA to DQ antigens with those developing non-DQ dnDSA and those free from dnDSA.