Table 2. Effect sizes related to the different subgroup analyses.
| Subgroup analyses for allograft survival | Effect size | 95% CI | I2 P value |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Effect of complement-activating anti-HLA DSAs in studies with high or low methodological quality | High–methodological quality studies NOS ≥ 6 |
2.87 | 2.42–3.39 | 3.1% P = 0.418 |
| Low–methodological quality studies NOS < 6 |
3.82 | 1.75–8.33 | 67.8% P = 0.005 |
|
| Effect of complement-activating anti-HLA DSAs in studies with different comparators used | Studies comparing index group and patients with non–complement-activating anti-HLA DSAs | 2.94 | 2.04–4.23 | 41.1% P = 0.036 |
| Studies comparing index group and patients with non–complement-activating anti-HLA DSAs and without anti-HLA DSAs | 3.60 | 2.74–4.73 | 0.0% P = 0.462 |
|
| Effect of complement-activating anti-HLA DSAs according to the type of solid organ transplant | Kidney transplantation studies only | 3.26 | 2.58–4.11 | 26.6% P = 0.102 |
| Heart, lung, and liver transplantation studies | 2.71 | 1.98–3.72 | 29.3% P = 0.194 |
|
| Effect of complement-activating anti-HLA DSAs according to the timing of antibody detection | Preexisting DSAs | 2.67 | 1.79–4.00 | 52.7% P = 0.048 |
| Preexisting and de novo DSAs | 3.18 | 2.49–4.05 | 0.0% P = 0.458 |
|
| De novo DSAs | 3.65 | 2.45–5.44 | 38.0% P = 0.081 |
|
| Effect of complement-activating anti-HLA DSAs according to the type of test used for detecting complement-activating antibodies | C1q | 2.80 | 2.11–3.71 | 42.1% P = 0.028 |
| C4d | 3.82 | 2.05–7.11 | 29.8% P = 0.240 |
|
| C3d | 5.04 | 2.10–12.07 | 51.2% P = 0.105 |
|
| IgG3 | 3.11 | 2.29–4.22 | 0.0% P = 0.868 |
|
| Center effect | 2.90 | 2.33–3.60 | 31.8% P = 0.050 |
|
Table 2 summarizes the effect sizes observed in the different subgroup analyses described in the Materials and methods. Effect sizes refer to HR for graft survival and OR for rejection appearance. Index group refers to patients with complement-activating anti-HLA DSAs.
Abbreviations: C1q, complement component 1q; CI, confidence interval; DSA, donor-specific antibody; HLA, human leukocyte antigen; HR, hazard ratio; I2, heterogeneity; IgG3, immunoglobulin G3; NOS, Newcastle–Ottawa scale; OR, odds ratio.