Mixed leukocyte culture incompatibility index for donor-recipient selection in kidney transplantation

The mixed leukocyte culture test has been applied to selection of histocompatibility non-identical donor-recipient pairs for renal transplantation. The clinical course of transplant recipients who have histocompatibility mismatches but low mixed leukocyte culture stimulation is similar to that of mixed leukocyte culture and histocompatibility identical recipients. Living donor-recipient pairs with high mixed leukocyte culture stimulation had no better graft survival than cadaver recipients. An incompatibility index derived from mixed leukocyte culture may aid in the selection of satisfactory non-identical living related donors and may help avoid use of immunologically unsatisfactory living donors.