THE DOT-IMMUNOBINDING TECHNIQUE IN DETECTION OF ANTIBODIES TO HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS TYPE-1 (HIV-1)

The GENIE HIV-1/2 test (GHIV) is a rapid ''dot blot'' assay for detect ing antibodies to HIV-1 and HIV-2. Antigens used are synthetic peptide s comprised of immuno-dominant portions of the gp41 and gp36 antigens of, respectively, HIV-1 and HIV-2. We compared GHIV with a reference H IV-1 enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and the HIV-1 Western blot (WB). Of 1,10 8 serum specimens tested, 358 (32.3%) were EIA-reactive and WB-positiv e. Of these, 357 (99.7%) were GHIV-positive. All 738 of the EIA nonrea ctive specimens were GHIV-negative. Twelve specimens were EIA-reactive and WB-indeterminate (9 specimens) or WB-negative (3 specimens). All 12 were HIV-1 indirect fluorescent antibody-negative and GHIV-negative . The sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values of positive and negative GHIV tests were, respectively, 99.7%, 100%, 100%, and 99.9%.