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Our study compared all requests for confirmatory typing (CT requests) received in our center between May 2007 and December 2009 (n = 134) for donors issued from 3 groups defined by different human leukocyte antigen (HLA) loci typed at different levels of resolution. We observed a significant advantage for volunteers when HLA-C 2-digit typing was available or with HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1 4-digit typing compared with generic HLA-A, -B, -DRB1, -DQB1 DNA typing: increased percentage of CT requests (p < 0.001), increased rate of donor selection for donation (p < 0.001), and decreased time frame for donor search (p = 0.025). The time frame for a successful search (donation) is similar among the 3 groups, indicating that the search might be concluded more rapidly when the pathology is clinically active or when the patient is at a high risk of relapse (76% of our cases) or for pediatric patients (24% of our cases), regardless of HLA typing resolution. Improvement of HLA typing for volunteers could be a great advantage for first selection in the absence of emergency or high-risk disease. Knowledge of HLA-C should be used to prioritize the selection of donors for further testing and could allow a better donor selection process, reducing search duration and increasing efficiency. In most cases, 2-digit typing for HLA-C associated with specific tools to estimate the probability of finding a matched donor could be sufficient., (Copyright © 2011 American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Given their antileukemic activity, natural killer (NK) cells can alter the outcome of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). The physiologic functions of NK cells are regulated by the interaction of killer immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR) with specific HLA class I ligands. In the literature, different models based on HLA class I and/or KIR donor (D)/recipient (R) gene disparities are considered as predictors of NK cell alloreactivity. In this retrospective and multicentric French study, we analyzed the clinical impact of the different NK-alloreactivity models in 264 patients who underwent T repleted unrelated HSCT. First, we did not observe that the "KIR ligand-ligand" model had a significant clinical impact on unrelated HSCT outcome, whereas the "missing KIR ligand" model had a significant but limited effect on unrelated HSCT, because only the absence of C1 ligand in patients with myelogenous diseases was associated with a decreased overall survival (OS) (hazard ratio=2.17, P=.005). The "KIR receptor-receptor" and the "KIR receptor-ligand" models seemed the most capable of predicting NK alloreactivity because they had a significant impact on acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) occurrence, OS, and relapse incidence in D/R unrelated pairs. In particular, KIR3DL1 gene mismatches in the GVH direction (D(+)R(-)) and the D KIR3DL1(+)/3DS1(+) and R Bw4(-) combination were respectively correlated with the lowest OS in HLA identical pairs (HR=1.99, P =.02) and the highest incidence of relapse in HLA nonidentical D/R unrelated pairs (HR=4.72, P =.03). Overall, our results suggest a detrimental effect of KIR3DL1(+)/3DS1(+) donor NK cells transplanted into HLA-Bw4(-) patients in the absence of an educational process via KIR3DL1/HLA-Bw4 interactions.

We investigated an association of the HLA-A locus in 78 French Caucasian patients with autoimmune myasthenia gravis (MG) and thymic epithelial tumours. The largest effect was a protection associated with HLA-A02 in MG patients with a B2 type thymoma (OR=0.323, 95% CI: 0.113-0.756, P=0.00041). The frequency of HLA-A25 was also increased in the whole group of patients (OR=3.62, 95% CI: 1.62-7.08, P=0.0041). Our findings emphasise the interest of the histological classification in the genetic study of thymomas.

HLA matching between the donor and recipient improves the success of unrelated hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Because many patients in need of an unrelated transplant have only donors with mismatch, information is needed to evaluate the limits of HLA mismatching. We examined the association of survival, acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) and relapse with HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB, -DQB1, and -DPB1 mismatching in 334 patients coming from 12 French transplant centers and who received a non-T cell-depleted bone marrow graft from an unrelated donor. All patients were prepared with the use of myeloablative conditioning regimens. Our analyses demonstrate negative effects of HLA mismatching for either HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1, or -DQB1 loci on survival. Multivariate Cox analyses showed that a single mismatch was associated with a significant decrement in survival (P=.046, hazard ratio [HR]=1.41, confidence interval [CI] 95% 1.1-1.98). The presence of multiple mismatches was worse for survival (P=.003, HR=1.91, CI 95% 1.26-2.91) and severe aGVHD (grade III-IV) (P=.002, HR=2.51, CI95% 1.41-4.46). The cumulative incidences of aGVHD and relapse in those HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1, and -DQB1 identical pairs with 2, 1, or 0 DPB1 incompatibilities were 63%, 50%, and 51%, and 12%, 27%, and 20%, respectively, but these differences were not statistically significant. Similar differences of aGVHD and relapse, but not statistically significant, were observed in those HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1, and -DQB1 identical pairs with DPB1 disparities classified into permissive or nonpermissive mismatches according to Zino's classification based on a hierarchy of the immunogenicity of the HLA-DP molecules. "Missing killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) ligand" evaluated on the presence of HLA-C1, -C2, and Bw4 groups in the recipients was not associated with aGVHD, survival, and relapse in this cohort of non-T cell-depleted HSCT.

Purpose: To investigate the influence of donor type (human leukocyte antigen [HLA] -identical sibling donor versus HLA-A-, HLA-B-, HLA-Cw-, HLA-DRB1-, and HLA-DQB1-identical unrelated donors, or so-called 10/10) on the outcome of patients who underwent allogeneic stem-cell transplantation (alloSCT), adjusting for other prognostic factors, in patients with standard-risk hematologic malignancy., Patients and Methods: Between March 2000 and January 2003, we prospectively investigated the outcome of 236 consecutive patients with standard-risk malignancy from 12 French centers. Fifty-five patients underwent alloSCT from an unrelated HLA-identical donor at the allelic level, whereas 181 patients received an alloSCT from an HLA-identical sibling. Diagnoses included acute leukemia (n = 175), chronic myeloid leukemia (n = 43), and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS; n = 18). All patients received unmodified marrow graft following myeloablative conditioning with cyclophosphamide and total-body irradiation. Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis consisted of cyclosporine and short-course methotrexate in all patients., Results: In multivariable analysis, overall survival and transplantation-related mortality were adversely influenced by recipient cytomegalovirus (CMV) -positive serology, age of donor older than 37 years, and the occurrence of acute grade > or = II GVHD. Event-free survival rates were lower for patients with recipient CMV-positive serology. Acute grades II to IV GVHD rates were higher for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). No factor was found to influence either relapse or acute grades III to IV GVHD. The effect of donor type was nonsignificant for all criteria., Conclusion: In patients with standard-risk malignancy, transplantation from unrelated HLA-allellically matched donors led to outcomes similar to those from HLA-identical sibling donors.

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matching remains a key issue in the outcome of transplantation. In hematopoietic stem cell transplantation with unrelated donors, the matching for compatible donors is based on the HLA phenotype information. In familial transplantation, the matching is achieved at the haplotype level because donor and recipient share the block-transmitted major histocompatibility complex region. We present a statistical method based on the HLA haplotype inference to refine the HLA information available in an unrelated situation. We implement a systematic statistical inference of the haplotype combinations at the individual level. It computes the most likely haplotype pair given the phenotype and its probability. The method is validated on 301 phase-known phenotypes from CEPH families (Centre d'Etude du Polymorphisme Humain). The method is further applied to 85,933 HLA-A B DR typed unrelated donors from the French Registry of hematopoietic stem cells donors (France Greffe de Moelle). The average value of prediction probability is 0.761 (SD 0.199) ranging from 0.26 to 1. Correlations between phenotype characteristics and predictions are also given. Homozygosity (OR = 2.08; [2.02-2.14] p <10(-3)) and linkage disequilibrium (p <10(-3)) are the major factors influencing the quality of prediction. Limits and relevance of the method are related to limits of haplotype estimation. Relevance of the method is discussed in the context of HLA matching refinement.

The first statistical analysis of the French National Registry of volunteer bone marrow donors estimated the probabilities of haplotype frequencies separately for each of the 20 administrative regions of France. Here we propose to use donors' surnames to increase the accuracy of location of the donor's geographical origin. This approach allows us to estimate haplotype frequencies for administrative entities (90 departments) smaller than regions and to correct for bias resulting from recent mobility. We analysed 30,777 donors typed for HLA-A,B and 17,745 donors typed for HLA-A,B,DR,DQ. By using the donors' surnames, we identified common and rare haplotypes (those found in only one department) and estimated the degree of HLA polymorphism at the department level. We also identified departments with a distinctive genetic structure (for example, Paris, Corsica, Pyrenees and Meurthe-et-Moselle). By providing a more accurate geographical distribution of HLA polymorphisms in France, this study will enable us to optimise policies for recruiting bone marrow donors and to improve the fit between the donor file and patients' needs.