Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Clinical and Experimental Immunology logoLink to Clinical and Experimental Immunology
. 1989 Jun;76(3):332–336.

Serological diagnosis of HIV infection: incidence, outcome and significance of partial reactions found in western blot analysis.

J P Lantin 1, I Graf 1, P C Frei 1
PMCID: PMC1541900  PMID: 2752592

Abstract

Between May 1986 and April 1987 routine screening for anti-HIV antibody was performed by enzyme immunoassay (EIA) on 3344 serum samples. The 1160 samples found positive or borderline were further analysed in Western blot (Wb). We analysed the frequency of different patterns of 'intermediate' Wb reactions (1-3 'specific' bands) and tried to determine their significance by searching for possible modifications of the pattern of reaction a few months later. Of 1160 Wb, 461 were clearly positive, 489 negative and 210 'intermediate'. The latter consisted of: 92 sera with anti-p24 (associated or not), 23 with anti-gp 120 and 160, 16 with anti-p55, 12 with anti-p41, 10 with anti-p65, eight with anti-p17 and four with anti-p31. A non-specific pattern was observed in the remaining 45. Of these sera, 46% were obtained from high risk subjects, 38% from persons without risk and in 16% no reliable information was available. In 30 subjects (24 with p24 and 6 with p41), a second sample was obtained about three months later. The reaction persisted in nine, was replaced by another in five, and disappeared in 15. One subject with anti-p41 in the first sample became clearly positive. In one of the 15 samples with disappearance of the reaction, the antigen p24 was present as the only sign of HIV infection. Later samples of this subject showed clear seroconversion. In many subjects with and without risk of exposure to HIV, the Wb gives an intermediate pattern of reactions (1-3 specific bands), that does not permit definitive conclusion on one single sample. Later controls are therefore necessary. Most of these reactions do not correspond to HIV infection.

Full text

PDF
332

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Allain J. P., Laurian Y., Paul D. A., Senn D. Serological markers in early stages of human immunodeficiency virus infection in haemophiliacs. Lancet. 1986 Nov 29;2(8518):1233–1236. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(86)92673-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Biberfeld G., Bredberg-Rådén U., Böttiger B., Putkonen P. O., Blomberg J., Juto P., Wadell G. Blood donor sera with false-positive Western blot reactions to human immunodeficiency virus. Lancet. 1986 Aug 2;2(8501):289–290. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(86)92111-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Burke D. S., Redfield R. R. False-positive Western blot tests for antibodies to HTLV-III. JAMA. 1986 Jul 18;256(3):347–347. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Couroucé A. M., Muller J. Y., Richard D. False-positive Western blot reactions to human immunodeficiency virus in blood donors. Lancet. 1986 Oct 18;2(8512):921–922. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(86)90443-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Lange J. M., Coutinho R. A., Krone W. J., Verdonck L. F., Danner S. A., van der Noordaa J., Goudsmit J. Distinct IgG recognition patterns during progression of subclinical and clinical infection with lymphadenopathy associated virus/human T lymphotropic virus. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1986 Jan 25;292(6515):228–230. doi: 10.1136/bmj.292.6515.228. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Meyer K. B., Pauker S. G. Screening for HIV: can we afford the false positive rate? N Engl J Med. 1987 Jul 23;317(4):238–241. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198707233170410. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Saag M. S., Britz J. Asymptomatic blood donor with a false positive HTLV-III Western blot. N Engl J Med. 1986 Jan 9;314(2):118–118. doi: 10.1056/nejm198601093140212. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Sarngadharan M. G., Popovic M., Bruch L., Schüpbach J., Gallo R. C. Antibodies reactive with human T-lymphotropic retroviruses (HTLV-III) in the serum of patients with AIDS. Science. 1984 May 4;224(4648):506–508. doi: 10.1126/science.6324345. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Schüpbach J., Haller O., Vogt M., Lüthy R., Joller H., Oelz O., Popovic M., Sarngadharan M. G., Gallo R. C. Antibodies to HTLV-III in Swiss patients with AIDS and pre-AIDS and in groups at risk for AIDS. N Engl J Med. 1985 Jan 31;312(5):265–270. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198501313120502. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Stroun J., Graf I., Frei P. C. Detection of anti-HTLV-III/LAV antibody by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in high-risk individuals in Switzerland 1974-1985. Eur J Clin Microbiol. 1985 Dec;4(6):583–586. doi: 10.1007/BF02013400. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Tsang V. C., Peralta J. M., Simons A. R. Enzyme-linked immunoelectrotransfer blot techniques (EITB) for studying the specificities of antigens and antibodies separated by gel electrophoresis. Methods Enzymol. 1983;92:377–391. doi: 10.1016/0076-6879(83)92032-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Ulstrup J. C., Skaug K., Figenschau K. J., Orstavik I., Bruun J. N., Petersen G. Sensitivity of western blotting (compared with ELISA and immunofluorescence) during seroconversion after HTLV-III infection. Lancet. 1986 May 17;1(8490):1151–1152. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(86)91862-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. van der Poel C. L., Reesink H. W., Tersmette T., Lelie P. N., Huisman H., Miedema F. Blood donations reactive for HIV in Western blot, but non-infective in culture and recipients of blood. Lancet. 1986 Sep 27;2(8509):752–753. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(86)90273-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Clinical and Experimental Immunology are provided here courtesy of British Society for Immunology

RESOURCES