Family studies of neutrophil alloantigens in bone marrow transplantation

In order to evaluate the utility of the neutrophil specific antigens NA1, NA2, Vaz (NC1), NB1 and 9a in the documentation of bone marrow chimeras in recipients of allogeneic bone marrow grafts, neutrophil antigen typing was performed by EDTA microagglutination on the families of 17 patients with hematopoietic disorders under evaluation for bone marrow transplantation. Mendelian segregation independent of HLA and mutually independent was noted for the NA, NB and 9a systems. Vaz (NC1) segregated with and was included in NA2. Serological complexity was noted for NA1 and NA2. Typing for neutrophil antigens was achieved for 13 of 17 patients. Eight of 10 patients with HLA identical siblings had neutrophil antigen markers differing between donor and recipient. Conversion to donor neutrophil phenotype was documented for four recipients of bone marrow grafts. The neutrophil antigens, particularly of the NA system, appear to be useful additional markers for allogeneic bone marrow engraftment.