Human leukocyte antigen compatibility and lymphocyte cross-matching play no significant role in the current adult-to-adult living donor liver transplantation.

BACKGROUND: The impact of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) compatibility and positive lymphocyte cross-match (LCM) on organ transplantation is well-recognized particularly in kidney and heart transplantation; however, it is still debatable in liver transplantation (LT). So, the aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of HLA mismatch and positive LCM on the outcome of LT.

METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the data of all adult recipients who underwent living donor LT at our institute between January 2010 and July 2016. We excluded all ABO blood group incompatible LDLT patients and patients with incomplete data regarding HLA genotyping (n = 134). The type and degree of HLA-A, HLA-B, HLA-C, HLA-DR, HLA-DQ mismatch and LCM were assessed in each donor-recipient pair and their relationship to the occurrence of rejection, CMV infection and graft survival was evaluated.

RESULTS: A higher percentage (>50%) of donor-recipient pairs had 1 HLA mismatch at each locus in the host-vs-graft direction and seventeen recipients (13%) had positive LCM. Human leukocyte antigen mismatch and positive LCM were not correlated with increased incidence of acute rejection (P = .37, P = .6, respectively), CMV infection post-transplant (P = .52, P = .76, respectively), or graft failure (HR 1.22, P = .68 and HR 1.73, P = .34, respectively).

CONCLUSION: Positive LCM and HLA mismatches did not affect the overall graft survival after adult-to-adult LDLT and should not be considered as contraindications for liver transplantation.