Laboratory Tests for Monitoring HIV-1 Infection
By Daniel R. Kuritzkes, MD
Director of AIDS Research, Brigham and Women's Hospital Associate Professor
of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

I.        Drug Resistance Testing in HIV-1 Infection    Top
           Clinical Significance of Drug Resistance in HIV-1 Infection
           Genotype and Phenotype
          How Resistance Tests are Done
           Genotypic Assays
           Phenotypic Assays
           Genotyping vs Phenotyping: Advantages and Disadvantages
           Interpreting Resistance Tests
              The Virtual Phenotype
           Prognostic Value of Resistance Testing
          Prospective Trials of Drug Resistance Testing
           Viradapt
           GART
           HAVANA
           VIRA3001
           NARVAL
           The Inhibitory Quotient (IQ)
           When and How to Use Resistance Testing

II.       Diagnosing HIV Infection     Top
           HIV ELISAs and Western Blots
            Rapid HIV Tests
            Home Testing for HIV Infection
            Virus Culture
            p24 Antigen Assays
          PCR Assays
             Qualitative Assays for Proviral HIV-1 DNA

III.      Virus Load Testing     Top
           Clinical Utility of Plasma HIV-1 RNA Monitoring
            Sample Collection

IV.      Immunologocal Testing     Top
            CD4 Counts
            Other Flow Cytometry Markers
            Functional Assays
            Proliferation Assays
            Cytotoxic T Lymphocyte Assays

V.      Therapeutic Drug Level Monitoring     Top

VI.     Glossary of Terms     Top

VII.    References     Top

VIII. Tables     Top
             Major Drug Resistance Mutations
             Web Sites for Interpreting Resistance Test Results
             Characteristics of Assays for Quantification of Plasma HIV-1 RNA
             Association of Plasma HIV-RNA Level with Declining CD4+Cell Count
              and Risk of AIDS and Death