COMPARISON OF IN-HOUSE AND COMMERCIAL SAMPLE PREPARATION AND PCR AMPLIFICATION SYSTEMS FOR DETECTION OF HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS TYPE-1DNA IN BLOOD-SAMPLES FROM TANZANIAN ADULTS

This study compared the performance of several in-house nested PCR sys tems and the Amplicor human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) PCR kit in the detection of HIV-1 DNA in Tanzanian samples prepared by two different methods. All six of the in-house primer sets evaluated had a higher sensitivity for HN DNA detection in samples prepared by the A mplicor PCR sample preparation method than in those prepared by the Fi coll-Isopaque (FIP) density gradient centrifugation method. A sensitiv ity of 100% was achieved by combining two in-house primer sets. The se nsitivity of the standard Amplicor HIV-1 PCR kit was only 59%, whereas a modified Amplicor HIV-1 PCR test had a sensitivity of 98%. Our data show that Tanzanian samples prepared by the Amplicor preparation meth od are more suitable for HIV-1 PCR testing than samples prepared by th e FIP method. The modified, but not the standard, Amplicor HIV-1 PCR k it provides an alternative to the nested in-house PCR technique for th e diagnosis of HIV infection.