The second international symposium on histocompatibility testing, which was held in Leiden, the Netherlands, in August 1965, emphasized the serological methods of determining histocompatibility antigens in man. This book is a literal account of the symposium, including a summary of the workshop which followed.
Since Dausset et al described isoantibodies in human sera capable of agglutinating human peripheral blood leukocytes, an entire discipline has emerged based on the hypothesis that (a) these antibodies are directed against specific antigens on the various white cell types, and (b) some of these antigens are, or are closely related to, transplantation antigens—those responsible for the induction of specific homograft immunity. Despite the brief interval that has elapsed since these original observations, many leukocyte antigenic systems have been identified in man. Dr. van Rood's group has described at least seven different antigenic systems detected by "monospecific" antisera obtained from multiparous females and oft-transfused patients. Similar