Low human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) DNA burden as a major cause for failure to detect HIV-1 DNA in clinical specimens by PCR.
To determine the sensitivity of a nested PCR procedure for detecting human immunodeficiency virus type 1 DNA in clinical specimens, 553 peripheral blood mononuclear cell samples obtained from 268 human immunodeficiency virus type 1-seropositive subjects were assayed by use of two independent primer sets for each sample. Overall, 1,088 of 1,106 (98.37%) reactions were positive. Investigation of the negative reactions showed that a low viral burden in some infected subjects, rather than primer-template mismatches, was the primary cause for the false-negative PCR results.
Zazzi
M
M
Department of Molecular Biology, University of Siena, Italy.
Romano
L
L
Catucci
M
M
De Milito
A
A
Almi
P
P
Gonnelli
A
A
Rubino
M
M
Valensin
P E
PE
D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D017931:DNA Primers; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000821:virology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*
D017931:DNA Primers; D004279:DNA, Viral