QUANTITATIVE PCR TECHNOLOGY IN CHIMERISM STATUS EVALUATION AFTER HEMATOPOIETIC STEM CELL TRANSPLANTATION

Chimerism status evaluation is one of the most useful methods for the assessment of the hematopoietic stem cell transplantation outcome, since it gives information about engraftment and disease relapse, as well as providing indication for timely interventions such as donor lymphocyte infusions. The aim of this article is to give an overview of the different methods used for chimerism detection, with a especial emphasis on the quantitative PCR (qPCR) based techniques as the newest in line of techniques used for chimerism monitoring. This overview covers a description of the qPCR method as well as a discussion about the advantages this technique offers in comparison to other methods

QUANTITATIVE PCR TECHNOLOGY IN CHIMERISM STATUS EVALUATION AFTER HEMATOPOIETIC STEM CELL TRANSPLANTATION

Chimerism status evaluation is one of the most useful methods for the assessment of the hematopoietic stem cell transplantation outcome, since it gives information about engraftment and disease relapse, as well as providing indication for timely interventions such as donor lymphocyte infusions. The aim of this article is to give an overview of the different methods used for chimerism detection, with a especial emphasis on the quantitative PCR (qPCR) based techniques as the newest in line of techniques used for chimerism monitoring. This overview covers a description of the qPCR method as well as a discussion about the advantages this technique offers in comparison to other methods

Mapping the Human Leukocyte Antigen Diversity among Croatian Regions: Implication in Transplantation

In the present study, HLA allele and haplotype frequencies were studied using the HLA data of 9277 Croatian unrelated individuals, typed using high-resolution methods for the HLA-A, -B, -C, and -DRB1 loci. The total numbers of observed alleles were 47 for HLA-A, 88 for HLA-B, 34 for HLA-C, and 53 for HLA-DRB1. HLA-A∗02:01 (29.5%), B∗51:01 (10.5%), C∗04:01 (15.8%), and DRB1∗16:01 (10.4%) were the most frequent alleles in the Croatian general population. The three most frequent haplotypes were HLA-A∗01:01~C∗07:01~B∗08:01~DRB1∗03:01 (4.7%), HLA-A∗03:01~C∗07:02~B∗07:02~DRB1∗15:01 (1.7%), and HLA-A∗02:01~C∗07:01~B∗18:01~DRB1∗11:04 (1.5%). Allele and haplotype frequencies were compared between national and regional data, and differences were observed, particularly in the North Croatia region. The data has potential use in refining donor recruitment strategies for national registries of volunteer hematopoietic stem cell donors, solid organ allocation schemes, and the design of future disease and anthropological studies