Virology Department, Centre Pasteur of Cameroon, Po Box 1274, Yaounde, Cameroon.
Virol J. 2017 Nov 14;14(1):224. doi: 10.1186/s12985-017-0893-3.
HIV infection in Cameroon is characterized by a great viral diversity with all HIV-1 groups (M, N, O, and P) and HIV-2 in circulation. HIV group determination is very important if tailored viral load analysis and treatments are to be applied. In our laboratory, HIV viral load is carried out using two platforms; Biocentric and Abbott depending on the HIV group identified. Biocentric which quantifies HIV-1 group M is a cheap and open system useful in resource limited settings. The objective of this study was to compare the viral load analyses of serologically group-indeterminate HIV samples using the two platforms with the view of reducing cost.
Consecutive samples received between March and May 2014, and between August and September 2014 in our laboratory for HIV viral load analysis were included. All these samples were analyzed for their HIV groups using an in-house ELISA serotyping test. All HIV-1 group M samples were quantified using the Biocentric test while all other known atypical samples (HIV-1 groups N, O and P) were analyzed using the Abbott technique. HIV group-indeterminate samples (by serotyping) were quantified with both techniques.
Among the 6355 plasma samples received, HIV-1 group M was identified in 6026 (94.82%) cases; HIV-1 group O, in 20 (0.31%); HIV-1 group M + O, in 3 (0.05%) and HIV-2, in 3 (0.05%) case. HIV-group indeterminate samples represented about 4.76% (303/6355) and only 231 of them were available for analysis by Abbott Real-Time HIV-1 and Generic HIV Viral Load techniques. Results showed that 188 (81.39%) samples had undetectable viral load in both techniques. All the detectable samples showed high viral load, with a mean of 4.5 log copies/ml (range 2.1-6.5) for Abbott Real-Time and 4.5 log copies/ml (range 2-6.4) for Generic HIV Viral Load. The mean viral load difference between the two techniques was 0.03 log copies/ml and a good correlation was obtained (r = 0.89; P < 0.001).
Our results suggest that cheaper and open techniques such as Biocentric could be useful alternatives for HIV viral load follow-up quantification in resource limited settings like Cameroon; even with its high viral diversity.
喀麦隆的 HIV 感染呈现出高度的病毒多样性，所有 HIV-1 组（M、N、O 和 P）和 HIV-2 均有流行。如果要进行定制的病毒载量分析和治疗，HIV 组的确定非常重要。在我们的实验室中，使用 Biocentric 和 Abbott 两种平台进行 HIV 病毒载量检测，具体取决于所确定的 HIV 组。Biocentric 可定量检测 HIV-1 组 M，是一种在资源有限的环境中有用的廉价、开放系统。本研究的目的是比较使用两种平台对血清学不确定的 HIV 样本进行病毒载量分析，以降低成本。
本研究纳入了 2014 年 3 月至 5 月和 8 月至 9 月期间在我们实验室进行 HIV 病毒载量分析的连续样本。所有这些样本均使用内部 ELISA 血清定型试验进行 HIV 组分析。所有 HIV-1 组 M 样本均使用 Biocentric 检测进行定量，而所有其他已知的非典型样本（HIV-1 组 N、O 和 P）则使用 Abbott 技术进行分析。使用两种技术对血清学不确定的 HIV 组样本（通过血清定型）进行定量。
在收到的 6355 份血浆样本中，6026 份（94.82%）样本鉴定为 HIV-1 组 M；20 份（0.31%）为 HIV-1 组 O；3 份（0.05%）为 HIV-1 组 M+O；3 份（0.05%）为 HIV-2。HIV 组不确定样本占 4.76%（303/6355），其中仅 231 份可用于 Abbott Real-Time HIV-1 和通用 HIV 病毒载量技术分析。结果显示，两种技术均检测不到病毒载量的样本有 188 份（81.39%）。所有可检测到的样本均显示高病毒载量，Abbott Real-Time 的平均病毒载量为 4.5 log 拷贝/ml（范围为 2.1-6.5），通用 HIV 病毒载量为 4.5 log 拷贝/ml（范围为 2-6.4）。两种技术的平均病毒载量差异为 0.03 log 拷贝/ml，相关性良好（r=0.89；P<0.001）。
我们的结果表明，在像喀麦隆这样资源有限的环境中，廉价、开放的技术（如 Biocentric）可作为 HIV 病毒载量随访定量的替代方法，即使存在高度的病毒多样性。
