Document 0616
 DOCN  M9550616
 TI    Evaluation of commercially available assays for antibodies to HIV-1 in
       serum obtained from South African patients infected with HIV-1 subtypes
       B, C, and D.
 DT    9505
 AU    Engelbrecht S; de Jager GJ; van Rensburg EJ; Department of Medical
       Virology, University of Stellenbosch and; Tygerberg Hospital, South
       Africa.
 SO    J Med Virol. 1994 Nov;44(3):223-8. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE
       MED/95156031
 AB    Between 1984 and 1990, virus was routinely isolated and serum collected
       from patients diagnosed at hospitals in the Western Cape as suffering
       from AIDS or AIDS-related conditions (ARC). From these, 17 virus strains
       were selected at random for sequencing and molecular characterisation of
       the env gene. The strains were previously characterised as belonging to
       HIV-1 subtypes B, C and D. The purpose of the present study was to
       evaluate retrospectively the serological diagnosis of HIV-1 in these 17
       South African patients. Thirteen anti-HIV screening assays, including 7
       rapid/simple test devices (RTDs), 4 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays
       (EIAs) and 2 Western immunoblot assays were evaluated. Using commercial
       EIAs, 16 serum samples were HIV antibody-positive and these results were
       confirmed by Western immunoblot analysis. Serum from one terminal AIDS
       patient was found negative with all the serological tests. Some RTDs
       gave false negative antibody reactions on specimens from patients
       infected with subtype D strains. To investigate the false negative
       antibody reactions, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to
       amplify, clone and sequence proviral DNA from the immunodominant gp41
       region from 7 of the HIV-1 strains. Two patients, both subtype D strains
       (D214 and D482) with false negative results in the RTDs, showed a
       significant amino acid substitution, i.e., substitution of a histidine
       residue for leucine at env position 607. It was concluded that although
       there were false negative RTD reactions on patients with HIV-1 subtype D
       strains, the commercial EIAs tested are sensitive and are able to detect
       patients infected with HIV-1 subtypes B, C and D that are present in
       South Africa.
 DE    Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/BLOOD/DIAGNOSIS/EPIDEMIOLOGY
       AIDS-Related Complex/BLOOD/DIAGNOSIS/EPIDEMIOLOGY  Base Sequence
       Blotting, Western/METHODS  Comparative Study  Evaluation Studies  Human
       HIV Antibodies/*BLOOD  HIV Envelope Protein gp41/GENETICS  HIV
       Infections/BLOOD/*DIAGNOSIS/EPIDEMIOLOGY
       HIV-1/CLASSIFICATION/GENETICS/*IMMUNOLOGY  Immunoassay/METHODS
       Immunoenzyme Techniques  Molecular Sequence Data  Polymerase Chain
       Reaction  *Reagent Kits, Diagnostic  Reproducibility of Results  South
       Africa/EPIDEMIOLOGY  Species Specificity  Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
       Variation (Genetics)  JOURNAL ARTICLE

       SOURCE: National Library of Medicine.  NOTICE: This material may be
       protected by Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.Code).