Korean J Lab Med.  2009 Oct;29(5):473-480. 10.3343/kjlm.2009.29.5.473.

Comparative Evaluation of ELISA and Luminex Panel Reactive Antibody Assays for HLA Alloantibody Screening

• Jung S
• Oh EJ
• Yang CW
• Ahn WS
• Kim Y
• Park YJ
• Han K

• KMID: 1077425
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3343/kjlm.2009.29.5.473

Abstract

BACKGROUND
For the detection of HLA antibodies, solid-phase tests using purified HLA antigens are increasingly used. In this study, we analyzed the panel reactive antibody (PRA) test results using ELISA and Luminex methods, and the results were compared with those of crossmatch test.
METHODS
A total of 111 sera including 90 sera from kidney transplanted patients were tested. ELISA-PRA was performed using Lambda Antigen Tray Class I and II Mixed kits (One Lambda Inc., USA) and additional test was performed to identify HLA specificities. Luminex-PRA tests were performed using LABScreen Mixed kits (One Lambda Inc., USA) and LIFECODES LifeScreen Deluxe kits (Tepnel Co., USA).
RESULTS
The positive rates of PRA were higher in Tepnel (P=0.006) and One Lambda Luminex (P<0.001) methods than ELISA, without significant difference between two Luminex methods (P=0.087). The overall concordance rate among the three PRA tests was 62.2% (69/111). The positive and negative predictive values of PRA tests for the flow cytometric crossmatch were 33.3-45.7% and 85.7-89.5%, respectively. Of the two Luminex methods, One Lambda showed higher positive rate than Tepnel for the detection of class I antibodies. The sensitivity of pretransplant PRA for the detection of posttransplant acute rejection episodes was higher in Luminex (P=0.007 for Tepnel, P=0.003 for One lambda) than ELISA method.
CONCLUSIONS
Different methods used to detect HLA antibodies showed discrepant results. As the Luminex method was more sensitive than ELISA for the detection of HLA antibodies, it can be used as a routine test in the transplantation laboratory.

Keyword

Panel reactive antibodies; HLA antibodies; Luminex-PRA; ELISA-PRA

MeSH Terms

Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay/*methods
Flow Cytometry
Histocompatibility Antigens Class I/*immunology
Histocompatibility Antigens Class II/*immunology
Humans
Isoantibodies/*blood
Kidney Transplantation/immunology
Reagent Kits, Diagnostic
Sensitivity and Specificity

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