Phenotype frequencies of autosomal minor histocompatibility antigens display significant differences among populations.
Eric Spierings, Matthijs Hendriks, Léna Absi, Angelica Canossi, Sonal Chhaya, John Crowley, Harry Dolstra, Jean-François Eliaou, Tom Ellis, Jürgen Enczmann, Maria E Fasano, Thibaut Gervais, Clara Gorodezky, Brigitte Kircher, David Laurin, Mary S Leffell, Pascale Loiseau, Mari Malkki, Miroslaw Markiewicz, Miryam Martinetti, Etsuko Maruya, Narinder Mehra, Fatma Oguz, Machteld Oudshoorn, Noemi Pereira, Rajni Rani, Ruhena Sergeant, Jackie Thomson, Thuong Hien Tran, Hannu Turpeinen, Kuo-Liang Yang, Renata Zunec, Mary Carrington, Peter de Knijff, Els Goulmy
Author Information
Eric Spierings: Immunohematology and Blood Transfusion, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands. eric.spierings@lumc.nl
Minor histocompatibility (H) antigens are allogeneic target molecules having significant roles in alloimmune responses after human leukocyte antigen-matched solid organ and stem cell transplantation (SCT). Minor H antigens are instrumental in the processes of transplant rejection, graft-versus-host disease, and in the curative graft-versus-tumor effect of SCT. The latter characteristic enabled the current application of selected minor H antigens in clinical immunotherapeutic SCT protocols. No information exists on the global phenotypic distribution of the currently identified minor H antigens. Therefore, an estimation of their overall impact in human leukocyte antigen-matched solid organ and SCT in the major ethnic populations is still lacking. For the first time, a worldwide phenotype frequency analysis of ten autosomal minor H antigens was executed by 31 laboratories and comprised 2,685 randomly selected individuals from six major ethnic populations. Significant differences in minor H antigen frequencies were observed between the ethnic populations, some of which appeared to be geographically correlated.
