Detection of Replication-Competent Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) in Cultures from Patients with Levels of HIV-1 RNA in Plasma Suppressed to Less Than 500 or 50 Copies Per Milliliter (original) (raw)

Cell-free plasma human immunodeficiency virus type 1 titer assessed by culture and immunocapture-reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 1993

The relationship between plasma human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infectious titer, determined by quantitative fivefold end-point dilution culture, and the detection of genomic HIV-1 RNA by immunocapture-cDNA-polymerase chain reaction was determined. The optimal plasma specimen collection and storage conditions for the use of such virologic markers for clinical trials were also determined. The variabilities in the measurement of infectious HIVLAI titer associated with intra- and interdonor peripheral blood mononuclear cells were 1.2 and 0.86 log10 50% tissue culture infective doses (TCID50)/ml (95% confidence interval range), respectively. Plasma HIV-1 titers did not change significantly after storing whole blood for 6 h either at 4 degrees C or ambient temperature or plasma for a median of 267 days (range, 259 to 482) at -70 degrees C. The detection of genomic HIV-1 RNA encapsulated in viral particles was very consistent, reproducible, and unaffected by either heparin or ...

Isolation of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from plasma during primary HIV infection

Journal of Medical Virology, 1987

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been isolated from plasma in 6 of 7 patients showing clinical symptoms of a primary HIV infection. Parallel cultures from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) yielded virus in 5 patients. In one case, virus could only be isolated from the cerebrospinal fluid but not from peripheral blood. Detectable viremia was transient and preceded the appearance of HIV specific antibodies. After cessation of acute symptoms, the frequency of HIV isolations was similar to that of asymptomatic carriers (23 and 26%, respectively). The role of the immune response in terminating detectable viremia remains to be established.

Detection of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) RNA in Pools of Sera Negative for Antibodies to HIV-1 and HIV-2

Journal of Clinical Microbiology

A total of 234 pools were prepared from 10,692 consecutive serum samples negative for antibodies to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and HIV-2 collected at five virological laboratories (average pool size, 45 serum samples). Pools were screened for the presence of HIV-1 RNA by a modified commercial assay (Amplicor HIV-1 Monitor test) which included an additional polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation step prior to purification of viral RNA (PEG Amplicor assay). The sensitivity of this assay for HIV-1 RNA detection in individual serum samples within pools matches that of standard commercial assays for individual serum samples, i.e., 500 HIV-1 RNA copies per ml. Five pools were identified as positive, and each one contained one antibody-negative, HIV-1 RNA-positive serum sample, corresponding to an average of 1 infected sample per 2,138 serum samples. Retrospective analysis revealed that the five HIV-1 RNA-positive specimens originated from individuals who had symptomatic ...

Comparative Evaluation of the Performance of the Abbott Real-Time Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) Assay for Measurement of HIV-1 Plasma Viral Load following Automated Specimen Preparation

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 2006

The performance of the new Abbott real-time human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) assay for HIV-1 RNA load determination in plasma was compared to that of the Abbott LCx HIV-1 RNA quantitative assay following automated RNA isolation by the Abbott m1000 extractor. The measured viral loads of 89 clinical specimens differed by mean 0.19 log 10 copies/ml (95% confidence interval, 0.12 to 0.26 log 10 copies/ml). Although the difference in viral load determinations was positively skewed in favor of the LCx assay, it did not reach statistical significance ( P = 0.42). Results were linearly associated ( R 2 = 0.94) and strongly correlated ( R = 0.96). Good performance was observed with HIV-1 subtypes other than B and circulating recombinant forms, although results obtained with two subtype G specimens and one H specimen showed a more substantial difference.

HIV-1 Residual Viremia and Proviral DNA in Patients with Suppressed Plasma Viral Load ( < 400 HIV-RNA cp/ml) During Different Antiretroviral Regimens

Current HIV Research, 2008

Low levels of plasma viremia (below 50 copies/ml of HIV-1 RNA) can be detected in the majority of HIV+ subjects successfully treated with HAART. Aim of our study was to evaluate the impact of different antiretroviral regimens on this residual viremia and on proviral HIV-1 DNA in HAART-treated subjects with plasma HIV RNA <400 cp/ml and no history of virological failure. To this purpose, a cross-sectional analysis of 319 HIV-positive patients on HAART with plasma HIV RNA <400 cp/ml was performed. Subjects had been on HAART for a median of 3.6 years: the current regimen included two nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) plus a protease inhibitor (PI) in 104 (32.6%) cases, of which 73 treated with a boosted PI; two NRTIs plus a non-NRTI (NNRTI) were prescribed in 166 (52.2%) cases, and NRTIs-only in 49 cases (15.4%). Patients treated with PI had the lowest nadir CD4 cell count (237+191 cells/μl) compared to patients treated with NNRTI (384+192 cells/μl) or NRTIs-only (387+222 cells/μl). Cell-associated HIV-1 DNA was measured in 231 subjects. Residual viremia was measured in 238 subjects with plasma HIV-1 RNA levels < 50 copies/ml. Multivariate analysis showed that the use of NNRTI was independently associated to low levels of residual viremia and high levels of HIV-1DNA, whereas the use of PI was independently associated to low levels of HIV-1 DNA. The better virological performance of NNRTI in terms of low residual viremia is consistent with specific literature data, whereas the greater impact of PI on the viral reservoirs is noteworthy and needs further investigations.

Effect of clinical events on plasma HIV-1 RNA levels in persons with CD4+ T-lymphocyte counts of more than 500 ?? 106 cells/l

AIDS, 2000

Objective: Immune stimulation of CD4 lymphocytes is thought to enhance HIV-1 replication in vivo. Therefore, we sought to de®ne the impact of clinical events identi®ed as putative immune activators on the variability of plasma HIV-1 RNA levels in persons with CD4 cell counts greater than 500 3 10 6 cells/l. Design: We prospectively recorded clinical events and measured plasma HIV-1 RNA levels weekly for 24 weeks in 16 HIV-1-infected adults who were not receiving antiretroviral therapy and who had CD4 cell counts greater than 500 3 10 6 cells/l. Methods: Standard weekly interviews were conducted to capture potential immune activators (e.g., infections, immunizations, and allergic reactions). All plasma HIV-1 RNA levels were measured using the Amplicor HIV-1 Monitor assay (Roche Diagnostics, Branchburg, New Jersey, USA) according to the manufacturer's instructions. Results: Participants had remarkably stable viral loads during the 6 month study period. Infections were signi®cantly more frequent during the 7 days prior to individual HIV-1 RNA measurements that exceeded the assay variation thresholds determined for this study (AE 0.324 log) than during the comparable time periods preceding stable measurements (P 0.023). As a group, the eight participants who had one to four HIV-1 RNA measurements that exceeded the thresholds experienced more infections and declining CD4 cell counts over the study course compared to the eight participants whose measurements all fell within the thresholds (P 0.058 and 0.053 respectively). Conclusions: Our study suggests that in untreated HIV-1-infected persons with CD4 cell count greater than 500 3 10 6 cells/l, viral load is generally quite stable, although acute minor infections are associated with transient¯uctuations generally lasting no more than 1 week.

Resolution of infection status of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)- seroindeterminate donors and high-risk seronegative individuals with polymerase chain reaction and virus culture: absence of persistent silent HIV type 1 infection in a high-prevalence area

Transfusion, 1992

To address concerns over the prevalence of silent (antibody-negative) infections among blood donors and high-risk populations, a combination of proviral amplification by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and viral isolation by co-culture techniques was employed to resolve the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection status of well-characterized groups of suspect blood donors and others identified in the blood bank setting. No silent infections were found in 65 follow-up samples from 26 persistently HIV-1 -seroindeterminate blood donors, 16 persistently seronegative heterosexual partners of infected transfusion recipients, and 6 high-risk seronegative homosexual men identified through donor look-back investigations. In contrast, 21 seropositive controls tested positive. These results suggest a low prevalence of persistentl silent infections in at-risk populations, even in high HIV prevalence regions. The P& assay, with a co-detected internal positive control, and appropriate confirmatory algorithms, was found to be a useful direct assay to rule out infection, especially in concert with confirmatory virus isolation. TRANSFUSION 1992;32:503-