HLA alloimmunization is one of the most troublesome consequence of regular transfusion which is itself a mainstay measure to provide longevity to the thalassemia patients. Febrile non-hemolytic transfusion reaction (FNHTR) is one of the most common complication which might be related to the HLA alloimmunization. Here, we studied the HLA antigenic system and alloimmunization rate in the Iranian β-thalassemia patients who suffered from FNHTR compare to the β-thalassemia patients without FNHTR.

Total of 60 β-thalassemia patients with FNHTR (case group) and 20 β-thalassemia patients without FNHTR (control group) randomly have been selected and enrolled in the study. All were tested for HLA-A and -B loci by PCR-SSP method and also for the presence of anti-lymphocyte antibodies by LIFT method. Comparisons between two groups were performed by Pearsonʼs χ2 test.

Totally, a significant predominance was noted for two HLA alleles, HLA-A*24 (P = 0.029) and B*55 (P = 0.034) which have higher prevalence in control group. Although no significant association was found between the presence of anti-leukocyte antibodies and the development of FNHTR, the HLA-A*32 (P = 0.047) allele was considered as possible genetic markers in the susceptibility to the development of anti-leukocyte antibodies.

Here some evidences about the possible role of HLA polymorphism in susceptibility to FNHTR are provided. Those results indicated that HLA-A*24 and HLA-B*55 might play protective role on inducing FNHTR in β-thalassemia patients. Further studies which investigate the allele level of HLA-I alongside with specific reactivity of HLA-I antibodies might reveal more deep data about these phenomena.