Association between HLA and Red Cell Antigens

Abstract

Cytotoxic HLA antisera of various specificities were examined on the AutoAnaly- zer against red blood cells (RBC) from a great number of HLA-typed donors. HLA-associated haemagglutinins of different specificities were demonstrated. In cytotoxic anti-HLA-A9 and anti-HLA-A10, as well as in anti-HLA-B12, anti-HLA-Bwl5 and anti-HLA-B17 sera, haemagglutinins of apparently corresponding specificities were found. This indicates that several HLA antigens may be present on RBC, but they are demonstrable only on RBC from a limited number of donors who possess the corresponding antigens on their white cells. Some antigens, like HLA-A28 and HLA-B7, are relatively strong RBC antigens, whereas others, like HLA-B12 or HLA-Bwl5 seem to be much weaker. In cytotoxic anti-HLA-Al and anti-HLA-B13 sera, no corresponding haemagglutinins were demonstrated. However, haemagglutinins of anti- HLA-B7 specificity were shown to be present in two cytotxic anti HLA-Al and three anti- HLA-B13 sera. No cytotoxic anti-HLA-B7 was found in these sera. Cross-reacting antibodies also seem to be frequent among HLA associated haemagglutinins.