title: Correlation of serum HIV antigen and antibody with clinical status in HIV-infected patients.
abstract: An enzyme immunoassay (EIA) has been developed which detects antigen(s) (Ag) of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the serum of patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), AIDS-related complex (ARC), and patients at high risk for HIV infection. The test has a sensitivity of approximately 50 pg/ml of HIV protein. The specificity of the assay was determined with various virus infected cell lines, normal human sera/plasma, and serum from patients not known to be at risk for HIV infection. No false-positive HIV-Ag results were seen. Sera from 69% of patients with AIDS were positive for HIV-Ag as were 46% of patients with ARC and 19% of asymptomatic, HIV-antibody-positive individuals. There were significant associations between the stage of HIV infection--ie, AIDS vs ARC vs asymptomatic--and the detection of HIV-Ag in serum (p less than 0.0001) and the lack of detection of antibody to HIV core Ag (p less than 0.0001). HIV-Ag was also found in the serum of two asymptomatic antibody-negative individuals who were at high risk for AIDS and who later developed HIV antibody. The presence of HIV-Ag in sera was confirmed by an inhibition procedure. Thus, HIV-Ag can be detected in the serum of infected individuals prior to antibody production and correlates with the clinical stage of HIV infection.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Paul
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Falk
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Kessler
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Chase
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Blaauw
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Chudwin
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Landay
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D002460:Cell Line; D006678:HIV / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000956:Antigens, Viral