Association between common HLA alleles and GVHD occurrence after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Backgrounds: Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in its acute (aGVHD) and chronic (cGVHD)form remains one of the most serious complications of allogeneic hematopoietic stem celltransplantation (allo-HSCT). There are several risk factors known to be associated with GVHDdevelopment. Some reports suggest that certain human leukocyte antigen (HLA) variants mayinfluence the incidence of GVHD.Materials and Methods: The aim of our study was to analyze possible association betweenindividual HLA alleles (HLA-A & HLA-B) and the occurrence of aGVHD in patients followingallo-HSCT from HLA-identical sibling donors. We analyzed ۲۳۴ patients with acute myeloidleukemia (AML) in Iran population who had received a first matched-sibling allogenic HSCTbetween March ۲۰۰۸ and March ۲۰۲۱. HLA genotyping was performed serologically and usingthe polymerase chain reaction with specific primer sequence (SSP-PCR).Results: Cumulative incidence of acute GVHD was ۳۲.۵% (۷۶ patients). Recipients carrying theHLA-A*۰۱, HLA-A*۲۴, HLA-B*۰۷, and HLA-B*۳۵ alleles was associated with a higherincidence of aGVHD. While, HLA-A*۳۲ and HLA-B*۱۸ alleles showed a statisticallysignificantly lower incidence of aGVHD.Conclusion: The findings of this study may by implication suggest the possibility that the effectsof specific HLAs on transplant outcomes may reflect inherent biological features, and may behelpful to predict risk and clinical outcomes after allo-HSCT and to develop optimal treatmentstrategies. More extensive studies are warranted to identify the effect of specific HLAs/HLAalleles on clinical outcome and to elucidate its biological features in populations of otherethnicities.

کلیدواژه ها:

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation ، Human leukocyte antigens (HLA) ، Graftversus-host disease (GVHD)