A Simple Method for Improved Assay Demonstrates that HIV p24 Antigen Is Present as Immune Complexes in Most Sera from HIV-Infected Individuals

Improved detection and quantitation of p24 antigen of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in sera was obtained by pH 2.5–3.0 pretreatment of samples before using a standard HIV p24 antigen ELISA. Pretreatment dissociated immune complexes and denatured antibodies with little or no compromise of p2...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of infectious diseases 1990-07, Vol.162 (1), p.21-28
Main Authors: Nishanian, Parunag, Huskins, Kenneth R., Stehn, Susan, Detels, Roger, Fahey, John L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acid treatment
AIDS
AIDS/HIV
Antibodies
Antigen antibody complex
Antigen-Antibody Complex - blood
Antigen-Antibody Complex - metabolism
Antigens
Biological and medical sciences
Cohort Studies
Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gene Products, gag - blood
HIV
HIV Antibodies - metabolism
HIV Antigens - blood
HIV Core Protein p24
HIV infections
HIV Infections - immunology
Homosexuality
Humans
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
Major Articles
Male
Microbiology
Multicenter Studies as Topic
Neutralization Tests
Predictive Value of Tests
Pretreatment
Techniques used in virology
Viral antigens
Viral Core Proteins - blood
Virology
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Summary:Improved detection and quantitation of p24 antigen of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in sera was obtained by pH 2.5–3.0 pretreatment of samples before using a standard HIV p24 antigen ELISA. Pretreatment dissociated immune complexes and denatured antibodies with little or no compromise of p24 antigen immunoreactivity. For 652 HIV antibody-positive sera, direct comparison of the pretreatment with the conventional assay demonstrated substantial increase in both antigen positivity (50.6% vs. 12.4%) and in the level ofp24 antigen in sera. Serum HIV antigen is mainly in the form of immune complexes in most individuals at all stages of HIV infection. Longitudinal study of 1 year (three measurements) on 29 seroconverters demonstrated two main patterns of p24 antigen expression in sera: 34.5% ofinfected individuals never express any form of detectable HIV antigen and 58.6%persistently demonstrate serum p24 antigen, usually in complex with antibody. Only 6.9% show episodic p24 antigen positivity.
ISSN:0022-1899
1537-6613
DOI:10.1093/infdis/162.1.21