title: Diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus infection by enzyme-linked immunospot assays in a prospectively followed cohort of infants of human immunodeficiency virus-seropositive women.
abstract: The enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT), a method for quantifying specific and total antibody-secreting cells, was used for the diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in a prospectively followed cohort of infants born to HIV-infected women. From July 1, 1987, to June 1, 1990, 127 infants with known HIV infection status were studied. Seventeen of 22 HIV-infected infants had specific HIV-specific antibody-secreting cells (ASC). Among the infected infants rates of ASC positivity increased during the first year of life, from 25% in the first 5 days of life to 78% after 6 months. Two of the five ASC-negative infected infants were further characterized as hypo- or dysgammaglobulinemic by an adjunct ELISPOT assay for total immunoglobulin-secreting cells. Excluding hypo- or dysgammaglobulinemic infants from the analysis, the rate of ASC positivity among infected infants was 85% (17 of 20) after the age of 6 months. None of the 95 uninfected infants had a positive ELISPOT assay, including 55 who were tested in the first 3 months of life. Thus in this series the specificity was 100%. ELISPOT methodology can be a useful technique for the diagnosis of HIV infection in infants of HIV-seropositive mothers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30303.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nesheim
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sawyer
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lindsay
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Slade
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shaffer
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Holmes
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ashby
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Grimes
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D011446:Prospective Studies