title: Comparison of the COBAS TAQMAN HIV-1 HPS with VERSANT HIV-1 RNA 3.0 assay (bDNA) for plasma RNA quantitation in different HIV-1 subtypes.
abstract: Quantitation of HIV-1 RNA levels in plasma has an undisputed prognostic value and is extremely important for evaluating response to antiretroviral therapy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of the real-time PCR COBAS TaqMan 48 analyser, comparing it to the existing VERSANT 3.0 (bDNA) for HIV-1 RNA quantitation in plasma of individuals infected with different HIV-1 subtypes (104 blood samples). A positive linear correlation between the two tests (r2 = 0.88) was found. Quantitation by the COBAS TaqMan assay was approximately 0.32log10 higher than by bDNA. The relationship between the two assays was similar within all subtypes with a Deming regression of <1 and <0 for the Bland-Altman plots. Overall, no significant differences were found in plasma viral load quantitation in different HIV-1 subtypes between both assays; therefore these assays are suitable for viral load quantitation of highly genetically diverse HIV-1 plasma samples.
authors: Laboratório de Virologia, Serviço de Imuno-Hemoterapia, Hospital Egas Moniz, Rua da Junqueria 126, 1349-019 Lisboa, Portugal. p.gomes@netcabo.pt
authors: Perpétua
authors: P
authors: Gomes
authors: Ana Carolina
authors: AC
authors: Palma
authors: Joaquim
authors: J
authors: Cabanas
authors: Ana
authors: A
authors: Abecasis
authors: Ana Patrícia
authors: AP
authors: Carvalho
authors: Rainer
authors: R
authors: Ziermann
authors: Isabel
authors: I
authors: Diogo
authors: Fátima
authors: F
authors: Gonçalves
authors: Céu Sousa
authors: CS
authors: Lobo
authors: Ricardo
authors: R
authors: Camacho