DIRECT QUANTIFICATION OF HIV-1 RNA IN HUMAN PLASMA BY FREE SOLUTION CAPILLARY ELECTROPHORESIS (FSCE)

The levels of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) RNA have bee n directly quantitated, after an isolation step, in plasma from patien ts with primary HIV-1 infection by free solution capillary electrophor esis (FSCE) with ultraviolet detection, HIV-1 RNA was detected and qua ntified at physiological levels by measuring the absorbance by FSCE. A ll the patients with primary infection showed concentrations in a rang e of 1.08-1.71 x 10(8) virions/ mi of plasma. No signals were observed in seronegative donors. This procedure represents a practical alterna tive to other methods to quantify HIV-1 RNA and may be useful in asses sing the efficiency of antiretroviral agents, especially during the ea rly stage when other conventional viral markers are often negative.