Clinical performance of a polymerase chain reaction testing algorithm for diagnosis of HIV‐1 infection in peripheral blood mononuclear cells

John M. Wages, Miriam Hamdallah, Michael A. Calabro, Arnold K. Fowler, Charles N. Oster, Robert R. Redfield, Donald S. Burke

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

The clinical performance of a modified polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing algorithm was evaluated for confirming the presence of HIV‐1 proviral DNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. A whole cell lysate, rather than phenol‐purified DNA, was used for PCR amplification, under systematically optimized conditions designed and verified within each PCR run to detect as few as 10 copies of proviral DNA. A sequential testing algorithm was designed requiring reactivity in duplicate (with corresponding non‐reactivity in negative controls) with at least two sets of primers, before reporting a specimen as HIV‐l‐positive. In 196 specimens from patients staged according to the Walter Reed staging system, the PCR test sensitivity and the coculture isolation rate (in parentheses) were found to be: 97% (71%), 100% (85%), and 100% (76%) in stage 1, stage 2, and stage 3 specimens, respectively; and 100% (100%) in stage 4, 5, and 6 specimens. Results were uniformly negative for PCR and coculture isolation from 21 blind negative specimens and 105 (negative) donor leukopacks. These data indicate that this PCR testing algorithm is more accurate than tissue culture isolation methods, especially with early stage patients, and results in detection of HIV‐1 in virtually 100% of seropositive individuals, with no false positives.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)58-63
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Medical Virology
Volume33
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1991
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • AIDS virus
  • DNA amplification
  • retroviral DNA

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Virology
  • Infectious Diseases

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