Improved DR typing of cadaver donor by lymphocyte incubation

Abstract

Of 39 consecutive cadaver donors tested, DR antigens could not be detected in 17. Following 3 h incubation of the B lymphocytes at 37.degree. C, 8 of the donors with no detectable DR antigens had 2 DR antigens and 9 had 1 DR antigen. There were 9 cases in which a potential cadaver donor had 1 antigen before incubation and 2 DR antigens following incubation. The simple technique of pre-incubating B lymphocytes before testing has helped considerably in prospectively typing cadaver donors for HLA-DR.