Moving beyond HLA: a review of nHLA antibodies in organ transplantation

Abstract

Given the finite graft life expectancy of HLA identical organ transplants and the recognition of humoral graft injury in the absence of donor directed anti-HLA antibodies, the clinical impact of antibodies against non-HLA (nHLA) antigens in transplant injury is being increasingly recognized. The recognition of the impact of nHLA antigen discrepancies between donor and recipient on transplant outcomes is timely given the advances in rapid and lower cost sequencing methods that can soon provide complete maps of all recipient and donor HLA and nHLA mismatch data. In this review, we present a summary of recent reports evaluating the role of nHLA antibodies and their relevance to the field of organ transplantation.