Central Building, First Floor, Room M1/300
4301 W. Markham St, Slot #502
Little Rock, AR 72205
Phone: 501-686-7257
Fax: 501-686-7443
Medical Director: Terry O. Harville, M.D., Ph.D.
Manager: James Marshall, MT(HEW) Phone: 501-296-1247
Supervisor: Catherine Lee, BSMT(ASCP), CHS Phone: 501-686-7248
Hours of Operation
Laboratory Hours: 6 a.m. – midnight, Monday through Friday
On Call Services available 24 hours, 7 days a week
The HLA laboratory provides specialized histocompatibility testing for patients undergoing organ transplantation, bone marrow transplantation, platelet transfusion support, and disease study association testing. The HLA laboratory is an American Society of Histocompatibility & Immunogenetics (ASHI) accredited laboratory.
HLA Specimen Collection Requirements
Available Tests
HLA Class I (ABC) Typing
Specimen Requirements: 10 ml ACD tube or spleen/lymph node
HLA Class I (ABC) typing is performed by low-resolution reverse sequence-specific oligonucleotide probes (RSSO). This test can be performed using anticoagulated peripheral blood, lymph nodes or spleen.
HLA Class II (DR/DQ/345) Typing
Specimen Requirements: 10 ml ACD tube or spleen/lymph node
HLA Class II (DR/DQ/345) typing is performed by low resolution reverse sequence-specific oligonucleotide probes (RSSO). This test can be performed using anticoagulated peripheral blood, lymph nodes or spleen.
High Resolution HLA Class I (ABC) & HLA Class II (DRB1/DQB1/BRD345) Typing
Specimen Requirements: 10 ml ACD tube or 2 buccal swabs
High Resolution HLA Class I (ABC) & HLA Class II (DRB1/DQB1/BRD345) typing is performed by next generation sequencing (NGS). This test are used for listing of bone marrow patients on the NMDP list or for allo-transplantation, and for HLA Typing of renal and cardiac transplant patients.
HLA B27 Typing
Specimen Requirements: 10 ml ACD tube
HLA B27 is performed by low-resolution reverse sequence-specific oligonucleotide probes (RSSO) to determine the presence or absence of the antigen. HLA B27 is used for disease association phenotyping for diagnosis of spondyloarthropathies.
HLA B*57:01 Typing
Specimen Requirements: 10 ml ACD tube
HLA B*57:01 is performed by low-resolution reverse sequence-specific oligonucleotide probes (RSSO) to determine the presence or absence of this allele. HLA B*57:01 is associated with increased risk for hypersensitivity to Abacavir.
Single Antigen Testing (PRA) — Antibody Identification
Specimen Requirements: 10 ml Red top tube
Patient serum is screened against an array of microbeads coated with purified HLA antigens. Antibodies that bind to the microbeads are labeled and detected using a fluorescent PE-conjugated anti-hum IgG secondary antibody. LABScreen assays are used to determine Class I and Class II HLA antibody specificity. This test is also used to determine MFI values of donor specific antibodies (DSA).
Flow Crossmatch
Specimen Requirements:
Recipient (Patient): 10 ml Red top tube & 10 ml ACD tube
Donor: 20 ml ACD tube
Patient serum is crossmatched with donor lymphocytes to detect donor specific antibodies in the patient serum. Patient serum can also be crossmatched against the patient’s lymphocytes to detect autoantibodies (Auto crossmatch). Antibody binding is visualized through fluorescent-labeled secondary antibodies using the flow cytometer.