Correlative analysis between HLA high resolution typing and GVHD in 48 unrelated umbilical cord blood transplantation

Objective: 54 unrelated umbilical cord blood units were provided to 21 transplant centers by Guangzhou cord blood bank in China from 1998 to 2003. In this study, PCR sequencing based typing methods (SBT) were used to identify HLA-DRB1 alleles so as to analyze the correlation between HLA-DRB1 alleles and GVHD in unrelated umbilical cord blood transplantation (UCBT). Methods: 48 out of 54 patients who received UCBT were followed up after 6 months. DNA were extracted from cryopreservation blood of recipients/donors, HLA-DRB1 alleles typing were done by SBT. Compared with low resolution results of HLA-DRB1 alleles, high resolution results were analyzed to see if there is any correlation between HLA-DRB1 alleles and GVHD. Results: By double-blind statistically analysis, HLA-DRB1 high resolution results were analyzed in 48 Donors/Recipients. From the results, we can figure that the incidence of GVHD(25%) occurred inrecipients whose HLA-DRB1 alleles matched with donors is significantly lower (61.1%) than in the patients with HLA-DRB1 alleles mismatched (P =0.008). Conclusion: HLA-DRB1 high resolution typing method is important in clinical application in UCBT.