Anti-human leukocyte antigen DQ antibodies in renal transplantation: Are we underestimating the most frequent donor specific alloantibodies?

The role of anti-human leukocyte antigens DQ region (HLA-DQ) in transplantation is historically less studied than HLA-DR and HLA class I regions, but several studies are demonstrating that anti HLA-DQ antibodies are among the most frequent anti HLA antibodies that develop after transplantation and can have great influence on the developing of humoral rejection and graft loss. In this article we review the gene structure and nomenclature of the HLA-DQ region, the role of anti HLA-DQ antibodies after and before transplantation and briefly the associations of particular HLA-DQ alleles and other diseases.