[Prevalence of antibodies against LAV/HTLV-III in patients with terminal renal insufficiency treated with hemodialysis and following renal transplantation].

Sera of 1046 patients undergoing haemodialysis for terminal renal failure or after renal transplantation were tested with the ELISA screening test for anti-LAV/HTLV-III and, if positive, the Western blot and ELAVIA tests. Four patients (0,38%) had "true" antibodies against LAV/HTLV-III, confirmed by the Western blot and ELAVIA tests. These patients had definite signs of cellular immune defects. They had received transplants from drug addict donors. Such kidneys should therefore no longer be used for transplantation. In addition, 29 patients (2.8%) had "false-positive" antibodies against LAV/HTLV-III in the ELISA test, unconfirmed in the Western blot and ELAVIA tests. The "false-positive" result was presumably due to cross-reaction with HLA antibodies. Sera of dialysis and transplantation patients who had received many blood transfusions should therefore be especially carefully tested before a diagnosis of infection with LAV/HTLV-III is made.