title: Vaccine-induced HIV seropositivity: a problem on the rise.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Vaccine-induced antibodies to envelope proteins frequently cause HIV seroconversion in uninfected recipients of HIV vaccine candidates and may thus have an impact on the vaccinee's ability to donate blood or acquire a life insurance policy.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the occurrence of positive test results when commonly used HIV immunoassays are used to screen sera of HIV-uninfected volunteers who received an adjuvanted HIV-1 vaccine candidate containing HIV-1 antigens p24, reverse transcriptase, Nef and p17.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sera of 50 subjects who received this polyprotein vaccine in a single center in Belgium were tested with 6 HIV screening assays and 1 confirmation test. All samples were drawn one year after the administration of the first of two vaccine doses given with one month interval.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-five (90%) sera showed a positive test result in at least one of the 7 HIV tests used. The positivity rates were 88% in the Elecsys HIV Combi assay, 74% in the ADVIA Centaur EHIV and 48% in the PRISM HIV O Plus assay.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Interpretation of HIV test results is becoming increasingly complex with the growing number of volunteers participating in prophylactic HIV vaccine trials worldwide and the rising number of viral antigens included in these vaccine candidates. The results of this study in recipients of a highly immunogenic adjuvanted polyprotein HIV vaccine candidate devoid of envelope proteins, illustrate the increasing need for approaches that can discriminate HIV infection-induced antibodies from those elicited by a vaccine.
authors.affiliation: Center for Vaccinology, Ghent University and Hospital, De Pintelaan 185, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Van Braeckel
authors.forename: Marguerite
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koutsoukos
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bourguignon
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Clement
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: McNally
authors.forename: Geert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Leroux-Roels
mesh_terms: D016915:AIDS Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000276:immunology*; D001530:Belgium; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D015488:HIV Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D016655:HIV Core Protein p24 / Q000276:immunology; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control; D054303:HIV Reverse Transcriptase / Q000276:immunology; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D014611:Vaccination; D054301:gag Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000276:immunology; D054311:nef Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D016915:AIDS Vaccines; D015483:HIV Antibodies; D015488:HIV Antigens; D016655:HIV Core Protein p24; D054301:gag Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus; D054311:nef Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus; C514837:nef protein, Human immunodeficiency virus 1; C054858:p17 protein, Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1; C514799:p24 protein, Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1; C514824:reverse transcriptase, Human immunodeficiency virus 1; D054303:HIV Reverse Transcriptase