Kral A H, Watters J K, Lifson A R, Carlson J R, Stanley M
Urban Health Study, Institute for Health Policy Studies, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA.
J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr Hum Retrovirol. 1995 Nov 1;10(3):381-5.
Standard HIV-1 testing relies on the enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for detecting antibodies specific to HIV-1. This technique may misclassify persons as HIV-1-negative in instances where testing follows infection but precedes development of antibody to HIV-1. To evaluate the occurrence of HIV infection in the absence of positive antibody, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for viral DNA in the blood has been applied. Research comparing these two testing techniques has generally focused on populations of homosexual and bisexual men. This study compares PCR and antibody testing of 337 injecting drug users recruited from street settings in San Francisco. Of 286 HIV-1 antibody-negative samples, 3 (1.0%) were PCR-positive. Of 49 HIV-1 antibody-positive samples, 1 (2.0%) was PCR-negative. Two samples were antibody-indeterminate and PCR-negative. This yielded an overall concordance of 331/335 (98.8%), excluding the indeterminate results. These results suggest that current antibody methodology is adequate. However, misclassification among recently infected individuals may occur, which is of concern in high-incidence groups.
标准的HIV-1检测依靠酶免疫测定法（EIA）来检测针对HIV-1的特异性抗体。在感染后但HIV-1抗体出现之前进行检测的情况下，这项技术可能会将个体误分类为HIV-1阴性。为了评估在没有阳性抗体的情况下HIV感染的发生情况，已经应用了针对血液中病毒DNA的聚合酶链反应（PCR）。比较这两种检测技术的研究通常集中在男同性恋者和双性恋男性群体。本研究比较了从旧金山街头招募的337名注射吸毒者的PCR检测和抗体检测。在286份HIV-1抗体阴性样本中，3份（1.0%）PCR呈阳性。在49份HIV-1抗体阳性样本中，1份（2.0%）PCR呈阴性。两份样本抗体结果不确定且PCR呈阴性。排除不确定结果后，总体一致性为331/335（98.8%）。这些结果表明目前的抗体检测方法是足够的。然而，在近期感染的个体中可能会出现误分类，这在高发病率群体中是令人担忧的。
