title: Performance evaluation of the Abbott HTLV III EIA, a test for antibody to HTLV III in donor blood.
abstract: An enzyme immunoassay (EIA), designed to detect antibodies to human T-cell lymphotropic virus type III (HTLV III), was evaluated. The antibody test was found to be highly sensitive; serum from 221 of 223 (99.1%) patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) was positive for antibodies to HTLV III. In addition, the antibody test was found to be highly specific; approximately 99.75% of 20,720 serum or plasma samples from blood donors were negative for antibody to HTLV III. In most cases, the Western Blot analysis agreed well with the EIA. Eighty-one of 82 (98.8%) EIA-positive samples from patients with AIDS were Western Blot positive. Of the EIA-positive blood donors, 21 of 36 (58%) were detected and confirmed by Western Blot analysis. A solid-phase competitive EIA also was evaluated as an alternate procedure. The preliminary results indicate that this immunoassay has a high degree of sensitivity and specificity and could serve as an alternate procedure to detect antibody to HTLV III.
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000276:immunology; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D001782:Blood Donors; D017977:Deltaretrovirus / Q000276:immunology*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008206:Lymphatic Diseases / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral