QUANTITATIVE INDIRECT IMMUNOFLUORESCENCE AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO WESTERN-BLOT FOR THE DIAGNOSIS AND FOLLOW-UP OF PEDIATRIC AIDS

The main objective of this work was to evaluate quantitative indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) in order to replace Westem blot (WB) fo r the diagnosis and follow-up of children born to human immunodeficien cy virus type 1 (HIV-1)-infected mothers. A total of 102 sera were obt ained from 23 infants. The clinical status was determined according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) classification: 8 infants were P2 and 15 were noninfected. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) tite rs were determined by IFA, and commercial WB assay was performed in al l samples. In all infected children, IgG titers increased with the app earance of new bands or an increase in the intensity of previously rea ctive bands in the WB, which corresponded to the worsening of the clin ical status. The 15 noninfected children presented decreasing IgG tite rs corresponding to the loss of WB reactivity. In 4 of these infants n egative IFA results appeared 6 months earlier on average than negative WB results. Our data suggest that IFA is a cost-effective alternative to WB for the follow-up and diagnosis of pediatric acquired immunodef iciency syndrome (AIDS).