HIV Testing Blog

HIV-1 diagnosis in babies born to seropositive mothers is one of the challenges of HIV epidemics in children. A simple, rapid protocol was developed for quantifying HIV-1 DNA in whole blood samples and was used in the ANRS French pediatric cohort in conditions of prevention of mother-to-child transmission. A quantitative HIV-1 DNA protocol (LTR real-time PCR) requiring small blood volumes was developed. First, analytical reproducibility was evaluated on 172 samples. Results obtained on blood cell pellets and Ficoll-Hypaque separated mononuclear cells were compared in 48 adult HIV-1 samples. Second, the protocol was applied to HIV-1 diagnosis in infants in parallel with plasma HIV-RNA quantitation. This prospective study was performed in children born between May 2005 and April 2007 included in the ANRS cohort. The assay showed good reproducibility. The 95% detection cut-off value was 6 copies/PCR, that is, 40 copies/10(6) leukocytes. HIV-DNA levels in whole blood were highly correlated with those obtained after Ficoll-Hypaque separation (r = 0.900, P < 0.0001). A total of 3,002 specimens from 1,135 infants were tested. The specificity of HIV-DNA and HIV-RNA assays was 100%. HIV-1 infection was diagnosed in nine infants before age 60 days. HIV-DNA levels were low, underlining the need for sensitive assays when highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has been given. The performances of this HIV-DNA assay showed that it is adapted to early diagnosis in children. The results were equivalent to those of HIV-RNA assay. HIV-DNA may be used even in masked primary infection in newborns whose mothers have received HAART. J. Med. Virol. 81:217-223, 2009. (c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Scientists at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (UNCCH) have opened up many possibilities into treatment of HIV by decoding the entire structure of the HIV genome. Until now, only small portions of the genome could be studied; however, by using their own technology they were able to view the genome aerially. They discovered that the HIV genome is gigantic, consisting of two strands containing ten-thousand blocks each.

According to Kevin Weeks, the professor who led the study, the HIV genome is loaded with RNA structures that control the virus’ behavior. The genomes for hepatitis C, polio, and influenza are also RNA programmed, so by using the same technology we may gain a better insight into these diseases and also vice-versa.

New anti-viral drugs that result from this discovery most likely won’t be available for another couple years; however, this new insight may lead HIV/AIDS researchers to explore possibilities that weren’t considered before.

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