INCREASED SENSITIVITY OF HIV-1 ANTIBODY DETECTION

Clinical trial results from 11,344 paired urine and serum samples reve aled 1,181 HIV-1-positive individuals confirmed by western blot (WB). There were 25 discrepant samples: 10 were urine enzyme immunassay (EIA ) and WB positive, serum non-reactive and serum WB negative or indeter minate, and 15 were serum EIA and WB positive, urine EIA non-reactive or urine WB negative or indeterminate. Serum samples, HIV-1 antibody W B confirmed, revealed a 99.15% sensitivity (1,171 out of 1,181); urine samples, HIV-1 antibody WB confirmed, showed a 98.73% sensitivity (1, 166 out of 1,181). This study demonstrated that neither serum nor urin e results alone are as sensitive for HIV-1 antibody detection as combi ned results of both samples.