Determination of surface bound and shed HLA antigens of amniotic cells by ELISA

HLA typing of amniotic cells for clinical purposes using the conventional cytotoxicity assay is a laborious and complicated procedure. In the present study we demonstrate that HLA class I typing of the fetus can be determined using the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) either on amniotic cells or soluble free antigens shed by the cells into the culture medium. Our results indicate that the ELISA technique is a sensitive and reliable assay that can be used as an alternative method of HLA class I typing of amniotic cells.