title: Development and studies of the anti-R7V neutralizing antibody ELISA test: a new serological test for HIV seropositive patients.
abstract: A new peptide-based ELISA test developed for the detection of anti-R7V specific antibodies in the sera of HIV seropositive patients is described. HIV virus acquires a cellular antigen at the moment the virus is released by budding, the R7V epitope. Certain patients produce anti-R7V Ab which are described as having the capacity to neutralize in vitro cell infection by HIV. Anti-R7V Ab are also detected in asymptomatic patients who have a lower likelihood of progressing to AIDS. Tested with 449 serum samples, the prevalence of anti-R7V Ab was 53.2% in HIV positive patients and 5.5% in HIV negative subjects. According to the duration of infection, the seroprevalence reaches almost 80% of non-treated long-term infected patients. Other retrospective studies were conducted on 308 HIV positive samples; the presence of anti-R7V Ab was significantly higher for 177 asymptomatic patients (64.4%) compared to the 131 symptomatic patients (35.1%). Regarding their neutralizing ability, anti-R7V antibodies were detected at the highest percentage in asymptomatic HIV-infected patients naive of treatment. Besides conventional biological parameters (CD4 and viral load), the detection of anti-R7V antibodies could be proposed to clinicians as an additional tool to manage treatment initiation and to improve the psychological state of their asymptomatic patients.
authors.affiliation: IVAGEN, 62, Route Nationale 113, 30620 Bernis, France.
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sanchez
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gemrot
authors.forename: Jean-Manuel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Da Costa Castro
mesh_terms: D015492:AIDS Serodiagnosis / Q000379:methods*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D015488:HIV Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D009500:Neutralization Tests / Q000379:methods; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D000939:Epitopes; D015483:HIV Antibodies; D015488:HIV Antigens