We compared the performance of three screening kits for the detection of anti-HIV in 187 samples; Enzygnost Anti-HIV 1/2 Plus, ABBOTT TESTPACK HIV- 1/HIV-2 & SERODIA. HIV- 1/2. Four samples, 3 serums and 1 CSF, from 2 patients were repeatedly reactive in all three screening kits and 2 serum specimens were confirmed positive(HIV-1) by the western blot assay. The sensitivity and specificity of all three screening kits were 100% and 98.9%, respectively. In Korea, the cause of AIDS is mostly HIV-1 and the prevalence is very low. So, all three screening kits were useful for the detection of anti-HIV from patients and blood donors. But the use of screening kit for the detection of anti-HIV-1, anti-HIV-2 and anti-HIV-I subtype O will be needed for the decrement of false negative rate because HIV infection has been increased, especially, HIV-2 infection and pediatric AIDS patient by vertical transmission were also reported, currently.
Antibodies* ; Blood Donors ; Blotting, Western ; HIV Infections ; HIV* ; HIV-1 ; HIV-2 ; Humans ; Korea ; Mass Screening* ; Prevalence ; Sensitivity and Specificity

OBJECTIVETo describe and evaluate a double-antigen sandwich ELISA for detecting human immunodeficiency virus type 1/2 (HIV-1/2) specific antibodies.

METHODSThe peptides gp41.1(sp1), gp41.2(sp2), gp120(sp3) and p24(sp4) of HIV-1 and gp36(sp5) of HIV-2 were artificially synthesized. Then sp1, sp3, sp4 and sp5 were used as coating antigens; sp1, sp2, sp4 and sp5 labeled with HRP were used as conjugates in this sandwich ELISA.

RESULTSThe specificity and sensitivity of the assay were both 100% in detecting anti-HIV of 40 control sera of the second generation panel, higher than indirect ELISA (specificity 90% and sensitivity, 65%, respectively). All of 210 sera from individuals with other diseases were negative for anti-HIV. The consistency rate was 100% when our sandwich ELISA and Abbott HIVAB were used to detect anti-HIV in 90 healthy blood donors and 88 HIV infected individuals.

CONCLUSIONSThe results showed that this sandwich ELISA for detection of anti-HIV is specific, sensitive and convenient, and it is suitable for screening blood donors and detecting HIV infection.

Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; methods ; HIV Antibodies ; blood ; HIV Infections ; blood ; virology ; HIV-1 ; immunology ; HIV-2 ; immunology ; Humans

A cross-sectional survey of drug users who were selected by "snowballing" method between March 15 and May 30, 1999 in Haiphong City was conducted. Subjects (n=520: 514 males and 6 females) were interviewed and provided blood spescimens for HIV-1 antibody testing. Mean age of the subjects was 25 years, sixty-one percent (319/520) reported injecting drug. The 218 subjects (68%) were ever shared needles. The HIV-1 prevalence in Injecting Drug Users (IDUs) was 74%. Factors related to the presence of HIV antibody were sharing needles (OR: 4.12; 95%CI: 1.82-9.31), and injecting more than 31 times per month (OR: 2.37; 95%CI: 1.04-5.42). Extramarital sex within the last six months was reported by 44% of single and 24% of married IDUs. The high HIV-1 prevalence in IDUs suggests that preventive interventions for risk reductions of HIV-1 transmission are urgently needed in these populations.
HIV-1 ; HIV Infections

The subtypes of HIV-1 from 106 HIV infected persons were determined by using the nested PCR method. Some results might be drawn: the HIV-1 samples from 83% of the investigated persons were E subtypes. The coexistence of B- and E- subtypes were observed in 8 out of 106 examined patients (7.6%). Non E- non B subtypes HIV-1 were also shown in 5.7% of the studied subjects. 40% of the newborns of mothers suffered from HIV-1 infection were infected. Their HIV-1 were all E-subtypes.
HIV-1 ; HIV Infections

No abstract available.
eIF-2 Kinase* ; HIV-1* ; Phosphorylation

A murime monoclonal antibody (mAb) specific for the envelope glycoprotein gp120 of human immunodeficiency virus type-I (HIV-1) was chemically coupled to pokeweed antiviral protein (PAP) from Phytolacca americana. The immunotoxin was purified by FPLC using 5200 colum. The purified immunotoxin efficiently bound to HIV-infected T cells as evidenced by fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis. The immunotoxin selectively killed human T lymphoid lines infected with HIV-lIIIB at less than 250 pM of the immunotoxin cells, while PAP or mAb alone did not have any significant effect on infected cells. The uninfected control T cell lines were not affected. Human cells infected with HIV-2 or other HIV-1 strains were not killed, suggesting that the killing depends completely on the antibody used for coupling. These in vitro results suggest that the PAP-mAb conjugate may be used to selectively remove cells expressing viral antigens from individuals infected with HIV.
Antigens, Viral ; Cell Line ; Glycoproteins ; HIV ; HIV-1 ; HIV-2 ; Homicide ; Humans* ; Immunotoxins ; Phytolacca americana* ; T-Lymphocytes*

To determine HIV prevalence among blood donors in Zhejiang Province from 1993 to 2004 years, almost 6,600, 000 blood donors information were collected and analyzed. Every sample was screened for markers of HIV-1 and HIV-2 by using commercially available ELISA kits twice, and Western blot for confirmation if positive or suspicious result appeared. The results indicated that during the study period, prevalence rate of HIV infection was 0.85/1000 donors (0.085%), with the rising tendency from 1:600000 in 1995 to 1:37500 in 2004. The prevalence of HIV infection in Zhejiang donors was significantly lower than that in donors of other provinces, prevalence of HIV infection in male was higher than that in female. In recent years, the prevalence of HIV in blood donors was obviously increased, but the difference among various populations began to reduce. It is concluded that in a low HIV prevalence area like Zhejiang province where no obvious AIDS occurred, risk for the expansion of the HIV epidemic was on the increase. Screening procedure used in transfusion services nowaday is reliable, but a comprehensive approach is required to make the blood more safe.
Blood Donors ; China ; epidemiology ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; HIV Infections ; prevention & control ; HIV Seroprevalence ; trends ; HIV-1 ; immunology ; HIV-2 ; immunology ; Humans ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Transfusion Reaction

OBJECTIVETo establish and evaluate an Enzyme Immunoassay diagnostic kit combined with anti-HIV1/2 antibody and P24 antigen for shortening the examination window period of HIV infection in HIV laboratory diagnosis.

METHODSThe enzyme-linked reaction plates was coated by anti-HIV P24 monoclonal antibody and HIV 1/2 antigen. Labeling HIV1/2 antigen and anti-HIV P24 polyclonal antibody with horseradish peroxidase, setup an integrated ELISA kit for detecting anti-HIV-1/2 antibody and HIV P24 antigen, and evaluate the specificity and sensitivity of this kit.

RESULTSThe sensitivity of testing P24 antigen was up to 0.2 ng/ml. 78 serum samples of patients with AIDS, 85 serum samples of healthy people were compared with Abbott EIA kit, the coincidence was 100%. 12 051 sera from normal persons and patients were examined, the sensitivity of 100 %and specificity of 99.62 %, respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe anti-HIV1/2 antibody and HIV P24 antigen can be measured at the same time using this EIA kit, while the examination window period of HIV infection is shortened. Thus, the method is suitable for laboratory diagnosis and epidemiological investigation.

Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; HIV Antibodies ; blood ; HIV Core Protein p24 ; blood ; HIV-1 ; immunology ; HIV-2 ; immunology ; Humans ; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic

Despite the tremendous efforts to develop a successful human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) vaccine, the quest for a safe and effective HIV vaccine seems to be remarkably long and winding. Disappointing results from previous clinical trials of VaxGen's AIDSVAXgp120 vaccine and MRKAd5 HIV-1 Gag/Pol/Nef vaccine emphasize that understanding the correlates of immune protection in HIV infection is the key to solve the puzzle. The modest vaccine efficacy from RV144 trial and the successive results obtained from the correlate of risk analysis have reinvigorated the HIV vaccine research field leading to various novel strategies. This paper will review the brief history and recent advances in HIV vaccine development.
HIV Infections ; HIV* ; HIV-1 ; Vaccines ; Wind

BACKGROUND: In several studies, failure of some of the previously developed anti-HIV-1/HIV-2 ELISA tests to detect HIV-1 group O infected blood had been reported. All of the anti-HIV-1/HIV-2 ELISA tests made by Korean manufactures have limitation in detecting HIV-1 group O infected blood. Newly developed LG Anti-HIV 1/2 Plus is the first Korean made product to overcome this limitation. METHODS: Sensitivity and specificity of LG Anti-HIV 1/2 Plus (LG Life Science, Seoul, Korea) and Enzygnost Anti-HIV 1/2 Plus (Dade Behring, Marburg, Germany) were evaluated using 82 Anti-HIV 1 positive samples, 2 Anti-HIV 1 group O positive samples, 25 Anti-HIV 2 positive samples and commercial BBI (Boston Biomedica, Inc., MA, USA)) Anti-HIV panels and 382 Anti HIV negative samples (300 healthy donors, 13 alcoholics sera, 20 end-stage renal disease sera, 20 HBsAg positive sera, 22 anti-HBs antibody positive sera, 7 anti-HCV positive sera) respectively. Seroconversion window was evaluated using 2 BBI(R) seroconversion panel. Intrapersonal and interpersonal reproducibility of the test were evaluated also. RESULTS: Sensitivity and specificity of both tests were 100%. Analysis of window period using commercial seroconversion panel showed no difference between both tests. CONCLUSION: LG Anti-HIV 1/2 Plus LISA showed excellent sensitivity and specificity in tested samples including HIV-1 group O infected sera. It can be concluded that LG Anti-HIV 1/2 Plus ELISA is capable of detecting most of the HIV-1, HIV-2 type and it could be used in screening donated blood.
Alcoholics ; Biological Science Disciplines ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay* ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens ; HIV ; HIV-1 ; HIV-2 ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Mass Screening ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Seoul ; Tissue Donors