Background: Passive immunotherapy in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is based on transfusions of plasma that is rich in HIV antibodies.
Study design and methods: To verify whether the clearance of transfused antibodies will maintain an elevated titer of specific antibodies between biweekly transfusions of plasma, the titers of anti-HIV-1 in plasma and in transfusion recipients were measured. Samples from 12 recipients were analyzed by automated scanning of Western blot, before transfusion and at Days 2, 7, and 14 after transfusion.
Results: The p24 antibody became detectable or higher than the baseline after transfusion and remained detectable until the second transfusion. Anti-p24 titers were variable and dependent on the antibody titer of the transfused plasma and the baseline p24 antigen titer.
Conclusion: Biweekly transfusion of plasma with a high anti-HIV titer maintains a high anti-p24 titer between transfusions in AIDS patients treated with passive immunotherapy.