Anti HLA Antibodies in Hemato-oncologic Patients with and without Platelet Refractoriness

Various antibodies such as antibodies against RBC antigens, anti-HLA, and anti-platelet antibodies are developed after repeated blood transfusions and may lead to transfusion reactions such as platelet refractoriness in recipients. In this study, anti-HLA antibodies were evaluated in hemato-oncological patients, with and without simultaneous platelet refractoriness.

In this descriptive study, performed from 2017 to 2019, presence of anti-HLA antibodies in patients with hemato-oncological disorders, referred to the HSCT Research Center, Shariati Hospital, Tehran, was assessed using Panel Reactive Antibody (PRA) test based on complement lymphocytotoxicity. Data analysis was performed by SPSS (version 16) and chi-square tests.

Of 79 studied patients with hemato-oncological disorders including 34 females (43%) and 45 males (57%) with the age range of 2 to 83 years,  49 were platelet refractory and 30 were not. Anti-HLA antibodies were present in 39 (49.4%) patients and  40 (50.6%) were negative for them. The frequency of panel reactive antibody positive cases was significantly different between patients with platelet refractoriness (62.8%) and those without it (30%) (P = 0.007).

Conclusions :

The role of anti-HLA antibodies in platelet refractoriness is well established. Our study also showed a significant difference in this regard among two groups of hemato-oncological patients with and without platelet refractoriness. The presence of these antibodies does not always mean platelet refractoriness, and antibodies without the ability to activate complement can also cause this complication.