Use of probes and amplification techniques for the diagnosis and prognosis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) infections.

The recent development of nucleic acid amplification methodologies has markedly improved our ability to detect very low levels of specific nucleic acids. Amplification techniques have been combined with product detection systems that are designed for high throughput and are automatable. These developments are drastically changing the face of infectious disease diagnostics and changing the character of prognostic indicators in certain diseases. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been used extensively for diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) infections, and recent developments have indicated that quantitative reverse-transcriptase PCR for viral RNA has prognostic value. Self-sustained sequence replication amplification for detection of viral RNA appears comparable to plasma culture for diagnosis of pediatric infections. The ligase chain reaction is still in developmental stages, but holds promise for specific purposes.