Follow-up of subjects with isolated and persistent anti-core (anti-p24 or anti-p17) antibodies to HIV.
Systematic screening of blood donations by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for HIV antibodies carries a false-positive rate: the sera involved react in Western blot to core antigens (p24 or p17) but reactivity to envelope is absent. We studied 22 subjects with persistent and isolated anti-core reactivities; 75 HIV seropositive patients were controls. The epidemiological data and the follow-up and biological tests performed in these two populations argue that donors with persistent and isolated anti-core antibodies are not seroconverting for HIV. We conclude: (1) that verification of all anti-HIV ELISA-positive sera by Western blot is essential and that the presence of at least once anti-envelope (gp120 or gp41) antibody is indispensable for the diagnosis of HIV infection; (2) that the solitary anti-p24 or anti-p17 bands observed on Western blot are false-positive. There is no evidence that donors with such reactivities are HIV-infected.
D000328:Adult; D001782:Blood Donors; D015153:Blotting, Western; D006800:Deltaretrovirus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006678:HIV / Q000276:immunology*; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D015488:HIV Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120; D015700:HIV Envelope Protein gp41; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012191:Retroviridae Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D013997:Time Factors; D014758:Viral Core Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000032:analysis
D015483:HIV Antibodies; D015488:HIV Antigens; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120; D015700:HIV Envelope Protein gp41; D012191:Retroviridae Proteins; D014758:Viral Core Proteins; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins