New HIV PCR Test Exhibits 25-fold Greater Sensitivity Than Current Assays

A new HIV test that identifies tiny amounts of p24 protein inside HIV is 25 times more sensitive than current HIV tests, according to a study published in the July issue of the American Journal of Clinical Pathology, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The Real-Time Immuno-PCR test combines parts of traditional antibody testing with polymerase chain reaction, which amplifies small amounts of the virus. Currently, most HIV viral load tests can identify 50 copies of HIV; however, the new test can detect the virus when only two copies of HIV are present, according to study co-authors Janet Barletta and Daniel Edelman of the University of Maryland School of Medicine Institute of Human Virology, the Journal reports.

Study co-author Niel Constantine said he hopes that the technology used in the new test produces results faster than current tests, which can detect HIV in blood 12 days after a person has been exposed to the virus, according to the Journal. The test still must undergo long-term studies to gain FDA approval.

Constantine said that his research group also is developing a "simpler, cheaper system" to monitor HIV-positive people in the developing world who are on antiretroviral therapy. He said that the portable HIV monitor -- which is being developed with a $200,000 grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation through a partnership with Norway-based Bionor -- is battery-operated and could be used in settings "without reliable power or sophisticated labs," the Journal reports.

06/16/04

Sources

Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report. New HIV Test 25 Times More Sensitive Than Current Tests, Study Says. June 16, 2004.

N Constantine and others. American Journal of Clinical Pathology.

M Chase. Wall Street Journal.June 26, 2004.

Tests for HIV section