Modified ELISPOT assay may predict T‐cell hyporesponsiveness to non‐inherited maternal antigens

Clinical reports have suggested the existence of immunological tolerance to noninherited maternal antigens (NIMA) in human leukocyte antigen (HLA) mismatched allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT). We studied the T-cell reactivity using IFN-gamma enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay in three HLA fully matched allo-SCT cases and one healthy volunteer family case. In HLA fully matched allo-SCT cases, ELISPOT assay could detect the hyporesponsiveness of T cells from donors to the B cells from recipients. Moreover, ELISPOT assay showed that the T cells from an individual responded to B cell from his mother significantly weakly than those from an unrelated HLA-haploidentical individual. These observations suggest that our IFN-gamma ELISPOT assay-based method may predict the presence of immunological tolerance to NIMA.