HLA typing

[MooseMom]

I'm doing some research into the six antigens that you want matched when finding the perfect donor.  In 2004, I had my first pretransplant eval (they didn't list me because I wasn't sick enough yet), and they sent me a copy of loads of labs including HLA antigen typing.  I didn't look at it at the time because it was irrelevant, but I've pulled it back out and am trying to make heads or tails of it.  The more I google this topic, the more confused I get, so I am wondering if any of you can give me a quick tutorial on what some of the numbers mean.  Do any of you know about your own HLA antigen typing?  thanks for any info.

[Chris]

Sorry I can't help and understand what you mean by confusion when looking something up. As far as the HLA matching, the only thing I found out was that I was a 5 out of 6 match. I don't know if I have lab results from the day I got my transplant or not, but anything before that did not include anything for transplant when I asked for a set of labs while on dialysis years ago. After 10 years records are no longer available here, but maybe still in my file in the transplant clinic. I'll have to lok to see if the records I have include labs. I just have doctor reports I know for sure. I asked for records because I was trying to switch transplant clinics at one time.

[Rerun]

 

[MooseMom]

Oh, thanks for the bump.  In another life, I may have been a geneticist; it's a topic that has always interested me but as I have no training in it, my research only begets confusion.  I have all these A, B Cw, Dq and DR numbers that intrigue me...it's like wanting to solve the puzzle that is me.  These antigens are so important that I just want to know more about them.

[Jie]

Why do you need to know what these numbers mean? They do not mean much. They are just numbers and they need the same numbers from donors to be matching. Right now, 3 pairs of antigens are used for kidney transplant matching: A, B, and DR, so total 6 antigens. The most important pair is DR. Antigens of Dq and Cw are not used for kidney matching.

If you are 6 out of 6, then the numbers of these 6 antigens of your donors are identical to yours. If you are 0 out of 6, then, your donor's numbers are all different from yours.

An important question is how common your numbers are. If your numbers are common, shared by a lot of persons, then you have a high chance to get a good match and get a kidney earlier. 

[MooseMom]

I don't NEED to know what they mean; I'm just curious, that's all.  I didn't know that 3 pairs of antigens are used for transplant matching or that the most important pair is DR and that antigens of Dq and Cw are not used until I read your post, so I actually learned something from you!  And yes, how common my numbers are is an important question.  How do I find that out?  Do I just ask the transplant coordinator?

Thanks for your reply!

[Jie]

One can learn about how common his or her antigens are from one of two ways:

1. A table from proposal 6 lists the frequency of antigens from all donors in the US:
http://optn. transplant. hrsa.gov/ policiesAndBylaw s/publicComment/ proposals. asp

2. A request can be made to OPTN to see how common his or her antigens are.

I did both. Unfortunately, from 1, my antigens are not too rare, but from 2, it is very rare. From 2, I compared only to my blood type during the last 10 years. From 1, it is from all blood types.

[MooseMom]

Thanks for that, Jie!  I'll certainly look into it.  Thanks!

[Sunny]

Once I was put on the transplant list, my transplant staff were able to tell me exactly the odds of my locating a deceased donor kidney based on: my antigens (hard to match), PRA levels (86%) and blood type (O Pos). Unfortunately the odds are less than .1% because of all these factors combined. Once you are on the transplant list and have been tissue typed, it will be easier for your transplant team to provide you with information.