Soluble HLA class i antigens in pediatric patients with renal transplants from related living donors without acute rejection and treated with triple therapy

All HLA class I Ag—expressing cells may be the source of serum Ag sHLA I. T and B lymphocytes secrete considerable amounts of Ag sHLA I in a variety of in vitro and in vivo activation systems. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the level of Ag sHLA I in serum of children with kidney transplants from related living donors without acute rejection and with triple therapy. We studied 25 patients (2–21 years) with first kidney transplant, 19 individuals (10–20 years) undergoing hemodialysis without transplant, and 25 normal children (4–21 years). The levels of Ag sHLA in transplant patients was 0.2–3.2 μg/ml (). The hemodialyzed patients was 0.48-4.5 μg/ml (), and the normal control was 0.30-4.38 μg/ml (). A statistically significant reduction was observed in transplant patients compared to normal control and hemodialyzed patients (p < 0.05 in both cases), whereas between normal and hemodialyzed patients no significant difference was seen (). The reduced levels of Ag sHLA I in blood could be an expression of adequate immunosuppressive treatment. Human Immunology 50, 135–139 (1996)