JCM Figure table search 04
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Sun, R.
Right arrow Articles by Spadoro, J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Sun, R.
Right arrow Articles by Spadoro, J.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 1998, p. 2964-2969, Vol. 36, No. 10
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Ultrasensitive Reverse Transcription-PCR Assay for Quantitation of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 RNA in Plasma

Rita Sun,1 Joanne Ku,1 Harsha Jayakar,1 Jo-Chi Kuo,1 Donald Brambilla,2 Steven Herman,1 Maurice Rosenstraus,1,* and Joanne Spadoro1

Roche Molecular Systems, Inc., Branchburg, New Jersey 08876,1 and New England Research Institutes, Watertown, Massachusetts 021722

Received 4 March 1998/Returned for modification 15 May 1998/Accepted 30 June 1998

With the recent introduction of combination therapy, human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) RNA levels in plasma have been dramatically reduced, frequently to below the limit of quantitation (400 copies/ml of plasma) of the AMPLICOR HIV-1 MONITOR Test (Roche Diagnostic Systems). To achieve enhanced sensitivity of the AMPLICOR HIV-1 MONITOR Test, a modified specimen preparation procedure that allows input of RNA from 10-fold more plasma per amplification reaction was developed. This "ultrasensitive" method allows the accurate quantitation of plasma HIV-1 RNA levels as low as 50 copies/ml. A precision study yielded average within-run and between-run coefficients of variation (CV) of 24.8 and 9.6%, respectively. A multicenter reproducibility study demonstrated that the laboratory-to-laboratory reproducibility of this assay is good, with an average CV of 32%. The linear range of this test is between 50 and 50,000 copies/ml of plasma. RNA concentrations measured by the ultrasensitive and standard HIV-1 MONITOR tests exhibited good agreement within the shared linear range of the two methods. The two measurements were within a factor of 2 for 91% of the specimens tested, with the concentration measured by the ultrasensitive method being only slightly lower (median, 22% lower). Preliminary studies suggest that this assay will prove to be useful for predicting the stability of viral suppression in patients whose RNA levels drop below 400 copies/ml in response to highly active antiretroviral therapy.


* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Roche Molecular Systems, 1080 Route 202, Somerville, NJ 08876. Phone: (908) 253-7463. Fax: (908) 253-3318. E-mail: maurice.rosenstraus{at}roche.com.


Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 1998, p. 2964-2969, Vol. 36, No. 10
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:




Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. Clin. Microbiol. Rev.
Clin. Vaccine Immunol. ALL ASM JOURNALS

Copyright © 1998 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.