Histocompatibility

The limited number of organ donors has created an enormous challenge for transplant
professionals. Due to the growing pool of patients with end stage organ disease, each donated
organ is a precious resource. There are over 100,000 recipients on the national waiting list with
only about 17,000 transplants performed each year, which translates into several years of waiting time for a transplant. Our HLA lab is dedicated to providing the optimal HLA match, minimizing waiting times for our recipients and achieving the best results for our recipients.

The MNIT histocompatibility lab identifies transplant recipient’s antigens and cooperates
nationally to try and get the best match as possible between donor and recipient. In our lab, we  perform various high complexity assays to lower the risk of organ rejection and increase the duration a recipient keeps a donated organ. Our team of experts process blood samples to analyze the presence and quantity of antibodies present in the recipient through HLA and DNA typing assays. This information is then entered into a national database for transplant professionals to access and to determine if the candidate is compatible with donors when they become available.  
The more antibodies a recipient has, the more difficult it becomes to find a donor with
compatible HLA and therefore obtain a transplant. Antibodies can present themselves during
various events such as receiving a blood transfusion, becoming pregnant, being sick or
contracting a disease. Recipients are monitored on a regular basis to detect any changes in their antibodies. Chronic rejection due to antibodies has remained an on-going problem within the
transplant community, however, we are conducting several clinical investigations to find methods for patients with antibodies to be transplanted.