HIV reverse transcriptase inhibiting antibodies detected by a new technique: relation to p24 and gp41 antibodies, HIV antigenemia and clinical variables.
A new assay for HIV reverse transcriptase activity inhibiting antibodies (RTI-ab) was used for the analysis of a large collection of sera sampled before and after confirmation of HIV infection. In this assay HIV-RT was preincubated with diluted serum, after which residual RT activity was determined by a technique using a template coupled to macrobeads and 125I-lodo-deoxyuridine-triphosphate as the tracer-substrate. Of the 936 sera analysed, 818 were found positive for RTI-ab, and 824 were positive in Western blot (Wb). The prevalence of RTI-ab compared to Wb was therefore 99.3%. The corresponding figure for 930 sera analysed for envelope-ab, i.e., gp41-ab, was 823 positive, and of these 930 sera 815 were Wb positive, giving a comparative prevalence of 101%. In contrast, only 678 samples of 993 analyzed for core ab, i.e., p24, were positive, giving a prevalence of 77.0% as 880 of these samples were Wb positive. Thus, RTI-ab was as prevalent as gp41-ab, and although the analyses of RTI-ab amounts in different stages showed decreasing levels in stage IV compared to stages II or III, all of the sera except 1 were found positive in stages III and IV. Further, it was found that both the few RTI-ab negative samples in stage II and the few RTI-ab positive samples among Wb negative sera were sampled in connection with seroconversion. The specificity of the RTI-ab assay was 100% in a test of 200 serum samples from HIV negative blood donors. It was concluded that RTI-ab analyses can be made highly sensitive and specific and useful for studies of HIV infection.
Neumüller
M
M
Research Unit of Replication Enzymology, Uppsala, Sweden.
Karlsson
A
A
Lennerstrand
J
J
Källander
C F
CF
Holmberg
V
V
Långström-Persson
U
U
Thorstensson
R
R
Sandström
E
E
Gronowitz
J S
JS
D015492:AIDS Serodiagnosis; D015153:Blotting, Western; D003856:Deoxyuracil Nucleotides; D015683:Gene Products, gag / Q000276:immunology; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D015488:HIV Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D016655:HIV Core Protein p24; D015700:HIV Envelope Protein gp41 / Q000276:immunology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000201:enzymology / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D012194:RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase / Q000276:immunology*; D014758:Viral Core Proteins / Q000276:immunology
D003856:Deoxyuracil Nucleotides; D015683:Gene Products, gag; D015483:HIV Antibodies; D015488:HIV Antigens; D016655:HIV Core Protein p24; D015700:HIV Envelope Protein gp41; D014758:Viral Core Proteins; C008144:5-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine triphosphate; D012194:RNA-Directed DNA Polymerase