Discordances with HIV-1 RNA quantitative determinations by three commercial assays in Pointe Noire, Republic of Congo.
Accurate HIV-1 RNA quantitation is required to support the scale up of antiretroviral therapy in African countries. Extreme HIV-1 genetic variability in Africa may affect the ability of commercially available assays to detect and quantify HIV-1 RNA accurately. The aim of this study was to compare three real-time PCR assays for quantitation of plasma HIV-1 RNA levels in patients from the Republic of Congo, an area with highly diversified HIV-1 subtypes and recombinants. The Abbott RealTime HIV-1, BioMérieux HIV-1 EasyQ test 1.2 and Cobas AmpliPrep/Cobas TaqMan HIV-1 1.0 were compared for quantitation of HIV-1 RNA in 37 HIV-1 seropositive pregnant women enrolled in the Kento-Mwana project for prevention of mother-to-child transmission in Pointe-Noire, Republic of Congo. The sample panel included a variety of HIV-1 subtypes with as many as 21 (56.8%) putative unique recombinant forms. Qualitative detection of HIV-1 RNA was concordant by all three assays in 33/37 (89.2%) samples. Of the remaining 4 (10.8%) samples, all were positive by Roche, three by Abbott and none by BioMérieux. Differences exceeding 1Log in positive samples were found in 4/31 (12.9%), 10/31 (32.3%) and 5/31 (16.1%) cases between Abbott and BioMérieux, Roche and BioMérieux, and Abbott and Roche, respectively. In this sample panel representative of highly polymorphic HIV-1 in Congo, the agreement among the three assays was moderate in terms of HIV-1 RNA detectability and rather inconsistent in terms of quantitation.
Hygiene Unit, IRCCS AOU San Martino-IST, Genoa, Italy. Electronic address: bianca.bruzzone@hsanmartino.it.
Bianca
B
Bruzzone
Infectious Diseases Unit, University of Genoa and IRCCS AOU San Martino-IST, Genoa, Italy.
Francesca
F
Bisio
Department of Health Sciences, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.
Patrizia
P
Caligiuri
Kento-Mwana Laboratory, Hôpital Régional des Armées, Pointe Noire, Republic of Congo.
Franc A Mayinda
FA
Mboungou
Hygiene Unit, IRCCS AOU San Martino-IST, Genoa, Italy.
Nicola
N
Nigro
Hygiene Unit, IRCCS AOU San Martino-IST, Genoa, Italy; Department of Health Sciences, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy. Electronic address: sticchi@unige.it.
Laura
L
Sticchi
Department of Health Sciences, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.
Agostina
A
Ventura
Department of Medical Biotechnologies, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.
Francesco
F
Saladini
Department of Medical Biotechnologies, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.
Maurizio
M
Zazzi
Hygiene Unit, IRCCS AOU San Martino-IST, Genoa, Italy; Department of Health Sciences, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.
Giancarlo
G
Icardi
Infectious Diseases Unit, University of Genoa and IRCCS AOU San Martino-IST, Genoa, Italy.
Claudio
C
Viscoli
D003223:Congo; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D010949:Plasma / Q000821:virology*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D019562:Viral Load / Q000379:methods*
D012367:RNA, Viral; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic
Africa; HIV-RNA; Kento-Muana; Non-B subtypes; Real-time PCR; Viral load