Odaibo Georgina N, Adewole Isaac F, Olaleye David O
Department of Virology College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
Virology (Auckl). 2013 Aug 28;4:35-40. doi: 10.4137/VRT.S12677. eCollection 2013.
Plasma HIV-1 RNA concentration, or viral load, is an indication of the magnitude of virus replication and largely correlates with disease progression in an infected person. It is a very useful guide for initiation of therapy and monitoring of response to antiretroviral drugs. Although the majority of patients who are not on antiretroviral therapy (ART) have a high viral load, a small proportion of ART naive patients are known to maintain low levels or even undetectable viral load levels. In this study, we determined the rate of undetectable HIV-1 RNA among ART naive HIV positive patients who presented for treatment at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Nigeria from 2005 to 2011. Baseline viral load and CD4 lymphocyte cell counts of 14,662 HIV positive drug naive individuals were determined using the Roche Amplicor version 1.5 and Partec easy count kit, respectively. The detection limits of the viral load assay are 400 copies/mL and 750,000 copies/mL for lower and upper levels, respectively. A total of 1,399 of the 14,662 (9.5%) HIV-1 positive drug naive individuals had undetectable viral load during the study period. In addition, the rate of non-detectable viral load increased over the years. The mean CD4 counts among HIV-1 infected individuals with detectable viral load (266 cells/μL; range = 1 to 2,699 cells/μL) was lower than in patients with undetectable viral load (557 cells/μL; range = 1 to 3,102 cells/μL). About 10% of HIV-1 infected persons in our study population had undetectable viral load using the Roche Amplicor version 1.5.
血浆中人类免疫缺陷病毒1型（HIV-1）RNA浓度，即病毒载量，是病毒复制程度的一个指标，在很大程度上与感染者的疾病进展相关。它对于启动治疗及监测对抗逆转录病毒药物的反应是非常有用的指导。虽然大多数未接受抗逆转录病毒治疗（ART）的患者病毒载量较高，但已知一小部分初治患者能维持低水平甚至检测不到的病毒载量。在本研究中，我们测定了2005年至2011年期间在尼日利亚伊巴丹大学学院医院（UCH）就诊并接受治疗的初治HIV阳性患者中HIV-1 RNA检测不到的比例。分别使用罗氏Amplicor 1.5版和帕泰克简易计数试剂盒测定了14662例HIV阳性未用药个体的基线病毒载量和CD4淋巴细胞计数。病毒载量检测下限分别为较低水平400拷贝/毫升和较高水平750000拷贝/毫升。在研究期间，14662例HIV-1阳性未用药个体中共有1399例（9.5%）病毒载量检测不到。此外，多年来病毒载量检测不到的比例有所增加。病毒载量可检测到的HIV-1感染者的平均CD4细胞计数（266个细胞/微升；范围 = 1至2699个细胞/微升）低于病毒载量检测不到的患者（557个细胞/微升；范围 = 1至3102个细胞/微升）。在我们的研究人群中，约10%的HIV-1感染者使用罗氏Amplicor 1.5版检测不到病毒载量。
