What are HLA antibodies?
HLA antibodies are substances in the blood which react with tissue types that are not the patients own. They can be formed as a result of blood transfusions, previous transplants or pregnancies (although they do not harm foetuses). They are not harmful to the patient unless they have to undergo a transplant when it is vital that the kidneys are carefully selected to ensure that the transplanted kidney does not contain the tissue type to which the antibodies have been made. So, if a patients tissue type is A1 A2 B7 B8 DR3 DR4 and they have antibodies to A3 and B44, they must not have a kidney with this type. They could not, therefore, receive a kidney whose tissue type was A1 A3 B7 B8 DR3 DR4, even though this tissue type is very closely matched with the patients own. Do HLA antibodies go away? Sometimes these antibodies weaken over time, but in general, it is not advisable to transplant a kidney that carries the tissue type to which the patient has antibodies, even if the crossmatch is
