How many hla markers

In order to help prevent rejection, you will take certain medicines called immunosuppressants. These are discussed in another section. Although there are many different antigens, there are six, which have been identified as having an important role in transplantation. They are the A, B, and DR antigens. There are two antigens for each letter and they are identified by numbers. So, your HLA type might look something like this:.

Children born of the same parents may inherit the same combination or a different combination of antigens. Except for identical twins and some brothers and sisters, it is very rare to get an exact match between two people, especially if they are unrelated. Therefore, there are a total of four different haplotype combinations from 2 parents. There is a basic rule in HLA inheritance. Therefore, you have a 1 in 4 chance of being an identical match with your siblings.

After HLA is determined, there is a second test which will indicate if there is specific immune reactivity between the donor and recipient.

This test is the "crossmatch". The crossmatch is a test which determines if the recipient has antibody to the potential donor. Antibody is a protein, present in the serum, which could injure the donor's cells by attacking the HLA. The antibody will only injure the donor's cells if it is specific for the donor's particular HLA Not everyone has antibody against HLA. The crossmatch is performed by mixing a very small amount of the patient's serum with a very small amount of the potential donor's white cells.

If the patient has antibody to the donor's HLA , the donor's cells will be injured and this is referred to as a "positive crossmatch". A positive crossmatch is a strong indication against transplant, since it signifies that the patient has the ability to attack the donor's cells, and would, most likely attack the donor's implanted kidney. Notice how the patient's antibody fits the donor's HLA just as a lock and key.

This means that somehow, the patient has developed an antibody to the donor's HLA type. There could be any number of reasons why the patient could have antibody to the donor's HLA. So, we hope the crossmatch will be negative. A negative crossmatch indicates that the patient does not have HLA antibody against that particular donor, and a transplant can be performed.

Since a patient can develop antibody after a transfusion, it is very important to submit a blood sample to the Tissue Typing Laboratory no later than days after each transfusion. At any time, a patients may request a kit tube and packaging material from the lab, for a posttransfusion sample. It is extremely important to inform us each time that you receive a transfusion.

This will help us to keep track of your post-transfusion antibody levels your PRA. The PRA is calculated for each monthly serum sample. In addition to determining how much or how little PRA a patient has, we need to know how specific the antibody is.

That is, is the antibody specific to a particular HLA. It also causes the stem cells to move into your bloodstream, where they can be collected more easily.

This process is called mobilization. Both of these medications are given as an injection shot into the fatty tissue in your upper arms or thighs.

A nurse can teach you to do the injections yourself, you can have a family member give them to you, or you can talk with your healthcare provider about making other arrangements. Your doctor or NP may need to prescribe something stronger. A tunneled catheter is a type of central venous catheter CVC.

It will be used during your procedure and will be removed once your collection is complete. Your nurse will teach you how to care for it and will give you written information. As your stem cells are collected, your blood calcium levels may drop.

This will help raise the calcium levels in your blood. The address is:. Blood will be drawn through the tubes and sent through the machine. The machine will collect your stem cells and the rest of your blood will be returned to you. Most people can return to their regular activities the day after their donation. Bone marrow harvesting is the procedure used to collect stem cells from your bone marrow.

Bone marrow can be removed from different sites on your body, such as your breastbone and the front and back of your hips. These are called harvest sites. The most common harvest site is the back of your hips. Your bone marrow harvesting procedure will be done in the operating room. Your weight and size may also limit how much you can donate.

You may have some pain or soreness at your harvest sites.