Comparative study of HLA-A antigen typing by DNA chip and serology in 120 donor-recipients

Objective To evaluate the accuracy and clinical practicality of DNA chip in comparison with serology in typing of human leukocyte antigen A (HLA-A) in Han's individuals of donor-recipients of transplantation. Methods 120 peripheral blood samples were obtained from donor-recipients of transplantation. Each sample was divided into two parts and HLA-A antigens were identified by DNA chip in one part and by serology in another. Samples in which the HLA-A typing results by these 2 methods were discordant were verified by polymerase chain reaction with sequence specific primers (PCR-SSP). Accuracy and clinical practicability of both methods were compared according to the typing results. Results Serological typing for HLA-A took 3 h, while DNA chip typing 4. 5-5 h. 112 samples have been typed successfully. Typing results were same in 91 samples and discordant in 21 cases. The verified results showed that DNA chip made 2 incorrect typing and the error rate was 2%. Meanwhile, serology made 19 mistakes, consisting of 5 antigens being incorrectly interpreted and 14 blanks turning out to be definable alleles. The discrepancy rate was 17 %. Conclusions DNA chip typing for HLA-A is suitable for clinical application in Chinese Han's population with a greater precision than serology. It may replace the serology in future after being improved and perfected.