title: Efficiency of the polymerase chain reaction for the detection of human immunodeficiency virus type (HIV-1) DNA in the lymphocytes of infected persons: comparison to antigen-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and virus isolation.
abstract: Seventy-one human immunodeficiency virus type (HIV-1)-positive patients were investigated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), virus isolation, and antigen detection for the existence of HIV in blood. The identification of HIV DNA by PCR, using three different pairs of primers, yielded a clearly higher detection rate (86%) than with two primer pairs (75%) and was far more sensitive than virus isolation (45%) and antigen ELISA (14%). The PCR-negative results were clearly correlated to asymptomatic clinical stages. However, there was a limited correlation between the clinical stage of disease and the amount of HIV DNA that could be detected in equal numbers of CD4+ cells from different patients, which might be due to their treatment with azido-thymidine (AZT).
authors.affiliation: Institute of Virology, University of Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stoeckl
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Barrett
authors.forename: F X
authors.initials: FX
authors.lastname: Heinz
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Banekovich
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Stingl
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Guggenberger
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dorner
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kunz
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D000941:Antigens; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005784:Gene Amplification; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000032:analysis*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D000941:Antigens; D004279:DNA, Viral