COMPARATIVE PERFORMANCE OF PEPTIDE-BASED RECOMBINANT PROTEIN-BASED, AND VIRAL LYSATE-BASED ENZYME IMMUNOSORBENT ASSAYS FOR THE DETECTION OFHIV-1 ANTIBODIES

The performance of peptide-, recombinant protein-, and whole virus lys ate-based enzyme immunosorbent assays (EIAs) for the detection of anti bodies to the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) was compared on a panel of 245 routine samples, a panel of low-positive samples, f our seroconversion panels, and serial dilutions of five known positive samples. Of the 245 routine samples, 83 were confirmed to be HIV-1 an tibody positive by Western blot and were reactive in the three EIAs us ed. Agreement between the three EIA tests was also 100% for all 162 ne gative samples. Although there was no significant difference in the pe rformance of the three types of assays in seroconversion panels, the w hole virus and recombinant protein-based EIAs detected 15 of 15 sample s in the low-positive panel whereas only 10 of 15 samples were reactiv e when the peptide-based EIA was used. In addition, evaluation of dilu ted positive samples suggested that the virus lysate-based EIA was mor e sensitive than the peptide- and recombinant-based EIAs. These result s show that although the three types of assays performed well on routi ne serum panels, differences in sensitivities were demonstrated when p erformance panels were evaluated. The data suggest that seroconversion and low-positive performance panels should be included in evaluations of new generations of EIAs for HIV-1 antibodies.