Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibodies detected by new assays that are enhanced for HIV-1 subtype O.
BACKGROUND
Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) subtype O infections are not reliably detected by commonly used anti-HIV-1/2 screening assays. Therefore, anti-HIV-1/2 assays have been modified to increase their sensitivity in detecting antibodies to HIV-1 subtype O.


METHODS
Two new anti-HIV-1/2 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) (Abbott Plus and Ortho Enhanced) were compared with a currently used anti-HIV-1/2 ELISA (Abbott Recombinant) in various serum panels: 91 Western blot-confirmed anti-HIV-1-positive samples, 20 samples from Western blot-confirmed HIV-1-infected patients in log3 serial dilutions, and 1463 samples from consecutive, volunteer, nonremunerated blood donors.


RESULTS
Among 91 anti-HIV-1 Western blot-positive samples, 2 (2.2%) were missed by the Abbott Recombinant ELISA, but all 91 were detected by the Abbott Plus and Ortho Enhanced ELISAs. In contrast, two discrepant samples were found to react in viral lysate-based assays. In serial dilutions, Ortho Enhanced ELISA was significantly less sensitive than the Abbott Recombinant and Abbott Plus ELISAs, with the latter two being of comparable sensitivity. The specificities of Abbott Recombinant, Abbott Plus, and Ortho Enhanced ELISAs in 1463 blood donors were 100, 99.93, and 99.86 percent, respectively. Routine testing of 29,102 donations with the enhanced Abbott Plus ELISA revealed a specificity of 99.93 percent.


CONCLUSIONS
Two Western blot-confirmed anti-HIV-1-positive samples were missed by the Abbott Recombinant ELISA but detected by the Abbott Plus and Ortho Enhanced ELISAs. The analytic sensitivity of the Ortho Enhanced ELISA was inferior to that of both Abbott ELISAs. The specificities of the Abbott Recombinant, Abbott Plus, and Ortho Enhanced ELISAs were comparable.
Jongerius
J M
JM
Red Cross Blood Bank Utrecht, the Netherlands.
van der Poel
C L
CL
van Loon
A M
AM
van den Akker
R
R
Schaasberg
W
W
van Leeuwen
E F
EF
D001782:Blood Donors; D002163:Cameroon; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D009426:Netherlands; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013636:Tanzania
D015483:HIV Antibodies