Human platelet antigens are associated with febrile non-hemolytic transfusion reactions

Background Febrile non-hemolytic transfusion reaction (FNHTR) is the most common type of transfusion reactions, and it could be reduced by transfusing patients with leukocyte-poor blood products. However, FNHTR still occur in certain patients transfused with leukocyte-poor red blood cell (LPR) products. It is examined whether human platelet antigen (HPA) could be a potential membrane antigen that plays a role in FNHTR. Methods A total of 120 inpatient subjects who transfused with LPR (60 in FNHTR group, 60 in control group) were typed for HPA-2, HPA-3, and HPA-15 using sequence specific primer-polymerase chain reaction (SSP-PCR) and electrophoresis. Results HPA-2 unmatched rate between donors and patients in FNHTR group was 18%, and only 3% unmatched rate was observed in control group (p = 0.0082). FNHTR group was further classified according to the imputability. There was a significant difference (p = 0.0041) between FNHTR (probable imputability, infection) group and control group, and more significant difference (p = 0.0008) was seen between FNHTR (probable imputability, febrile neutropenia) group and control group. Conclusions Those results indicated that HPA-2 might play roles on inducing FNHTR in patients suffering from infectious diseases and febrile neutropenia. HPA-2 genotyping between donors and recipients might be worth integrating in pre-transfusion testing to increase transfusion safety.