Evaluation of the safety of blood products with respect to human immunodeficiency virus infection by using an HTLV-I-infected cell line (SKT-1B).

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the etiologic agent of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), was rapidly cytopathic to SKT-1B, a cell line established from a patient with adult T cell leukemia, in vitro. This cytopathic effect was preceded by the expression of HIV antigen, defined with a monoclonal antibody (mAb) specific for the core protein (p24) of HIV. SKT-1B is highly susceptible to HIV as compared with MT-2 and H9 cells. HIV is known to be transmitted via blood products, and thus we examined whether or not currently used procedures for manufacturing blood products are safe by using SKT-1B. Lyophilized HIV was heated at 65 degrees for time periods in the range of 10 min to 48 hr, and the infectivity was examined. The results showed that heating at 65 degrees for less than 2 hr was not sufficient to inactivate HIV, but the virus heated for 48 hr had no effect on SKT-1B. In addition, HIV completely lost its infectivity on sulfonation, which is commonly used to avoid anaphylactic shock on intravenous infusion of human immunoglobulins. These findings indicate that blood products manufactured by currently used procedures are probably safe with respect to HIV infection.