title: Comparison of in-house and commercial sample preparation and PCR amplification systems for detection of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 DNA in blood samples from Tanzanian adults.
abstract: This study compared the performance of several in-house nested PCR systems and the Amplicor human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) PCR kit in the detection of HIV-1 DNA in Tanzanian samples prepared by two different methods. All six of the in-house primer sets evaluated had a higher sensitivity for HIV DNA detection in samples prepared by the Amplicor PCR sample preparation method than in those prepared by the Ficoll-Isopaque (FIP) density gradient centrifugation method. A sensitivity of 100% was achieved by combining two in-house primer sets. The sensitivity of the standard Amplicor HIV-1 PCR kit was only 59%, whereas a modified Amplicor HIV-1 PCR test had a sensitivity of 98%. Our data show that Tanzanian samples prepared by the Amplicor preparation method are more suitable for HIV-1 PCR testing than samples prepared by the FIP method. The modified, but not the standard, Amplicor HIV-1 PCR kit provides an alternative to the nested in-house PCR technique for the diagnosis of HIV infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology/Immunology, Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lyamuya
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Bredberg-Rådén
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Albert
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Grankvist
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Msangi
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kagoma
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mhalu
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Biberfeld
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D013636:Tanzania / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral