Donor-specific anti-human leukocyte antigen antibodies (DSA) are controversially discussed in the context of liver transplantation (LT). We investigated the relationship between the presence of DSA and the outcome after LT. All the LTs performed at our center between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2015 were examined. Recipients < 18 years, living donor-, combined, high-urgency-, and re-transplantations were excluded. Out of 510 LTs, 113 DSA-positive cases were propensity score-matched with DSA-negative cases based on the components of the Balance of Risk score. One-, three-, and five-year survival after LT were 74.3% in DSA-positive vs. 84.8% (p = 0.053) in DSA-negative recipients, 71.8% vs. 71.5% (p = 0.821), and 69.3% vs. 64.9% (p = 0.818), respectively. Rejection therapy was more often applied to DSA-positive recipients (n = 77 (68.1%) vs. 37 (32.7%) in the control group, p < 0.001). At one year after LT, 9.7% of DSA-positive patients died due to sepsis compared to 1.8% in the DSA-negative group (p = 0.046). The remaining causes of death were comparable in both groups (cardiovascular 6.2% vs. 8.0%; p = 0.692; hepatic 3.5% vs. 2.7%, p = 0.788; malignancy 3.5% vs. 2.7%, p = 0.788). DSA seem to have an indirect effect on the outcome of adult LTs, impacting decision-making in post-transplant immunosuppression and rejection therapies and ultimately increasing mortality due to infectious complications.
