HLA and lung transplantation.

Lung transplantation is increasingly practiced for patients with end-stage lung disease. The successful outcome of solid organ transplantation today is severely impeded by the production of alloantibodies, mainly directed against the protein products of the HLA complex of the organ donor. While the association between antibody mediated rejection and allograft damage has been well established in renal and heart transplantation, it has not yet been well characterized in lung transplantation. This review addresses the question of HLA matching in lung transplantation and current knowledge of the allogenicity of different HLA class I and II antigens. The role of the antibody mediated immune response is discussed as well as the importance of pre-transplant or de novo post-transplant circulating antibodies. Finally, potential mechanisms, which may act individually or in combination, of antibody mediated damage to solid organ transplants are considered.