Antibody‐mediated inhibition of the human alloimmune response to platelet transfusion in Hu‐PBL‐SCID mice

Severe combined immune deficient (SCID) mice were engrafted with human (Hu) peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) from a previously alloimmunized donor and transfused with HLA-mismatched platelets. We have previously shown this to be a useful model for platelet transfusion. These engrafted mice (Hu-PBL-SCID mice) produced high levels of alloantibody in response to standard platelet preparations. However, when the first platelet challenge was presensitized with anti-HLA antibody and then transfused there was a marked reduction in the amount of alloantibody produced to five subsequent untreated platelet transfusions. Platelets pretreated with platelet-specific anti-HPA-1a (PLA1) sera did not induce a decrease in the anti-HLA alloantibody response. This demonstrated that platelet-induced HLA alloimmunization can be blocked by anti-HLA antibody-sensitized cells.