HLA PIRCHE matching service

NGSengine can now export HLA typing results of an individual sample directly to the PIRCHE matching services website. This will facilitate laboratories to predict indirectly recognizable HLA epitopes for either hematopoietic stem cells or solid organs.

HLA mismatches between donors and recipients may lead to alloreactivity after transplantation. With the identification of numerous new HLA alleles, the risk of alloreactive responses towards HLA mismatches after transplantation has become more challenging to predict. The PIRCHE (Predicted Indirectly ReCognizable HLA Epitopes) algorithm has been developed to estimate the risk associated to alloreactive T-cell responses. The PIRCHE algorithm addresses the indirect recognition of HLA mismatches. It aims to improve transplant outcome by reducing Graft-versus-Host Disease and by enhancing Graf-versus-Leukemia effects after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and cord blood transplantation. In the field of organ transplantation, the algorithm allows estimating the incidence of developing donor-specific antibodies against the transplant, which is considered the major risk of graft failure.

The HLA system consists of a large family of highly variable genes and allelic variants which form the basis of the human immunological defense system. In stem cell transplantation, matching patient and donor is vital as small differences between HLA alleles may have serious effects on the outcome of transplantation. High-resolution typing is a technology which enables determination of variations in nucleotides, making it ideal for stem cell transplantation purposes.

PIRCHE® is a new technology for estimating risk of immune responses after transplantation. It is the first HLA matching algorithm taking account the indirect pathway of allo-recognition (for details, please go to the PIRCHE website).

The input of the algorithm is the HLA genotype of a sample. The output of this algorithm is a score (number), to be considered, when searching for a donor.

A PIRCHE application guide is available here.