Comparative evaluation of the performance of the Abbott real-time human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) assay for measurement of HIV-1 plasma viral load following automated specimen preparation.
The performance of the new Abbott real-time human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) assay for HIV-1 RNA load determination in plasma was compared to that of the Abbott LCx HIV-1 RNA quantitative assay following automated RNA isolation by the Abbott m1000 extractor. The measured viral loads of 89 clinical specimens differed by mean 0.19 log10 copies/ml (95% confidence interval, 0.12 to 0.26 log10 copies/ml). Although the difference in viral load determinations was positively skewed in favor of the LCx assay, it did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.42). Results were linearly associated (R2 = 0.94) and strongly correlated (R = 0.96). Good performance was observed with HIV-1 subtypes other than B and circulating recombinant forms, although results obtained with two subtype G specimens and one H specimen showed a more substantial difference.
Garcia-Diaz
A
A
Department of Virology, Royal Free Hospital and Royal Free and University College Medical School, London NW3 2PF, United Kingdom.
Clewley
G S
GS
Booth
C L
CL
Labett
W
W
McAllister
N
N
Geretti
A M
AM