A NOVEL DETECTION ASSAY FOR THE EARLY DIAGNOSIS OF HIV-1-INFECTED INFANTS

This investigation compares the results of a new method of diagnosing HIV-1 infection in infants <6 months of age with currently employed te chniques including cocultivation, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), serum p24 antigen, and in vitro antibody production (IVAP) measuremen ts. The new method, called in vitro antigen (IVAG), measures p24 antig en released into culture supernatants of peripheral blood mononuclear cells that are incubated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). No activated d onor lymphocytes or interleukin 2 (IL-2) are added to the culture. Usi ng this technique, HIV-1 infection was detected in 15 of 17 HIV-1-infe cted infants <2 months of age, including 3 of 7 infants tested at birt h, and 15 of 15 HIV-1-infected infants between 2 and 6 months of age. None of 83 determinations of 15 uninfected infants were positive. Thes e results were found to be comparable to results obtained by the tradi tional cocultivation technique and the polymerase chain reaction. Beca use of its simplicity and reduced cost, this sensitive and specific as say could be a valuable addition to the current methods of diagnosis o f HIV-1 infection in young infants.