Performance of a transcription-mediated-amplification HIV-1 RNA assay in pooled specimens

J Clin Virol. 2007 Sep;40(1):68-70. doi: 10.1016/j.jcv.2007.06.004. Epub 2007 Jul 26.

Abstract

Background: Very limited data exist on the comparative performance of nucleic acid amplification tests (NATs) for the screening of pooled specimens for acute human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection.

Study design: In this study, we compared a transcription-mediated-amplification assay (Procleix HIV-1 Discriminatory Assay, [TMA]) with a branched DNA assay (Bayer Versant HIV-1 RNA 3.0 assay, [bDNA]).

Results: After re-testing 1552 samples that were negative for HIV RNA by bDNA, we found one additional positive sample with the TMA assay.

Conclusion: Our results suggest that TMA could potentially detect acute HIV infections missed by other technologies.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Evaluation Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Branched DNA Signal Amplification Assay
  • HIV Infections / diagnosis*
  • HIV Infections / virology
  • HIV-1 / genetics
  • HIV-1 / isolation & purification*
  • Humans
  • Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques / methods*
  • RNA, Viral / isolation & purification*
  • Sensitivity and Specificity

Substances

  • RNA, Viral