QUANTITATIVE RELATIONSHIP OF CIRCULATING P24 ANTIGEN WITH HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS (HIV) RNA AND SPECIFIC ANTIBODY IN HIV-INFECTED SUBJECTS RECEIVING ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY

To better understand the biologic meaning and potential clinical utili ty of p24 antigen measurements in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) i nfection, p24 antigen and antibody and HIV RNA were quantitated in par allel, Specimens (n = 311) were analyzed from 74 participants in a zid ovudine treatment study, Parallel antigen and RNA measurements reveale d the frequent occurrence of two types of discordant results, First, p 24 antigen was often not detected in samples with high antibody levels even when >10(6) RNA copies/mL were present, Second, in specimens in which p24 antigen was detected, the concentration was greater than exp ected on the basis of HIV RNA values, These results suggest that optim al use of serum p24 antigen values will require consideration of both specific antibody levels and non-virion associated antigen.