Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of Clinical Microbiology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Microbiology
. 1997 Dec;35(12):3288–3291. doi: 10.1128/jcm.35.12.3288-3291.1997

Comparison of the Amplicor HIV-1 monitor test and the nucleic acid sequence-based amplification assay for quantitation of human immunodeficiency virus RNA in plasma, serum, and plasma subjected to freeze-thaw cycles.

B P Griffith 1, M O Rigsby 1, R B Garner 1, M M Gordon 1, T M Chacko 1
PMCID: PMC230164  PMID: 9399536

Abstract

The Amplicor HIV-1 Monitor test was compared to the nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (Nasba) assay system for the quantitation of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) RNA in three different types of clinical samples: plasma, serum, and plasma subjected to freeze-and-thaw cycles. Each assay detected HIV RNA in the same 73 (90%) of 81 samples tested, and the quantitative results obtained with the two assays were significantly correlated. Both assays detected higher RNA levels in patients with CD4+ cell counts lower than 200 cells/mm3 than in patients with CD4+ cell counts higher than 200 cells/mm3. In addition, RNA levels in plasma higher than 5 logs predicted higher numbers of clinical events than did RNA levels in plasma lower than 5 logs. Quantitation of HIV RNA in paired plasma and serum samples showed lower HIV RNA content in serum than in the paired plasma sample, with mean differences between HIV RNA contents of plasma and serum of 0.54 and 0.28 log RNA copy/ml by the Nasba assay and the Amplicor HIV-1 Monitor assay, respectively. No significant loss of HIV RNA was detected with either assay in plasma samples subjected to multiple freeze-and-thaw cycles. These studies demonstrate that the Nasba and Amplicor assays perform similarly with plasma and serum samples. Further, the results indicate that freeze-and-thaw cycles do not result in significant loss of detectable HIV RNA.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (112.5 KB).

Selected References

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

  1. Boom R., Sol C. J., Salimans M. M., Jansen C. L., Wertheim-van Dillen P. M., van der Noordaa J. Rapid and simple method for purification of nucleic acids. J Clin Microbiol. 1990 Mar;28(3):495–503. doi: 10.1128/jcm.28.3.495-503.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Coombs R. W., Henrard D. R., Mehaffey W. F., Gibson J., Eggert E., Quinn T. C., Phillips J. Cell-free plasma human immunodeficiency virus type 1 titer assessed by culture and immunocapture-reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. J Clin Microbiol. 1993 Aug;31(8):1980–1986. doi: 10.1128/jcm.31.8.1980-1986.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Ho D. D., Neumann A. U., Perelson A. S., Chen W., Leonard J. M., Markowitz M. Rapid turnover of plasma virions and CD4 lymphocytes in HIV-1 infection. Nature. 1995 Jan 12;373(6510):123–126. doi: 10.1038/373123a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Holodniy M., Katzenstein D. A., Sengupta S., Wang A. M., Casipit C., Schwartz D. H., Konrad M., Groves E., Merigan T. C. Detection and quantification of human immunodeficiency virus RNA in patient serum by use of the polymerase chain reaction. J Infect Dis. 1991 Apr;163(4):862–866. doi: 10.1093/infdis/163.4.862. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Larder B. A., Kemp S. D., Harrigan P. R. Potential mechanism for sustained antiretroviral efficacy of AZT-3TC combination therapy. Science. 1995 Aug 4;269(5224):696–699. doi: 10.1126/science.7542804. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Lin H. J., Myers L. E., Yen-Lieberman B., Hollinger F. B., Henrard D., Hooper C. J., Kokka R., Kwok S., Rasheed S., Vahey M. Multicenter evaluation of quantification methods for plasma human immunodeficiency virus type 1 RNA. J Infect Dis. 1994 Sep;170(3):553–562. doi: 10.1093/infdis/170.3.553. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Mellors J. W., Kingsley L. A., Rinaldo C. R., Jr, Todd J. A., Hoo B. S., Kokka R. P., Gupta P. Quantitation of HIV-1 RNA in plasma predicts outcome after seroconversion. Ann Intern Med. 1995 Apr 15;122(8):573–579. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-122-8-199504150-00003. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Mulder J., McKinney N., Christopherson C., Sninsky J., Greenfield L., Kwok S. Rapid and simple PCR assay for quantitation of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 RNA in plasma: application to acute retroviral infection. J Clin Microbiol. 1994 Feb;32(2):292–300. doi: 10.1128/jcm.32.2.292-300.1994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. O'Brien W. A., Hartigan P. M., Martin D., Esinhart J., Hill A., Benoit S., Rubin M., Simberkoff M. S., Hamilton J. D. Changes in plasma HIV-1 RNA and CD4+ lymphocyte counts and the risk of progression to AIDS. Veterans Affairs Cooperative Study Group on AIDS. N Engl J Med. 1996 Feb 15;334(7):426–431. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199602153340703. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Piatak M., Jr, Saag M. S., Yang L. C., Clark S. J., Kappes J. C., Luk K. C., Hahn B. H., Shaw G. M., Lifson J. D. High levels of HIV-1 in plasma during all stages of infection determined by competitive PCR. Science. 1993 Mar 19;259(5102):1749–1754. doi: 10.1126/science.8096089. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Revets H., Marissens D., de Wit S., Lacor P., Clumeck N., Lauwers S., Zissis G. Comparative evaluation of NASBA HIV-1 RNA QT, AMPLICOR-HIV monitor, and QUANTIPLEX HIV RNA assay, three methods for quantification of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 RNA in plasma. J Clin Microbiol. 1996 May;34(5):1058–1064. doi: 10.1128/jcm.34.5.1058-1064.1996. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Schuurman R., Descamps D., Weverling G. J., Kaye S., Tijnagel J., Williams I., van Leeuwen R., Tedder R., Boucher C. A., Brun-Vezinet F. Multicenter comparison of three commercial methods for quantification of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 RNA in plasma. J Clin Microbiol. 1996 Dec;34(12):3016–3022. doi: 10.1128/jcm.34.12.3016-3022.1996. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Schuurman R., Nijhuis M., van Leeuwen R., Schipper P., de Jong D., Collis P., Danner S. A., Mulder J., Loveday C., Christopherson C. Rapid changes in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 RNA load and appearance of drug-resistant virus populations in persons treated with lamivudine (3TC). J Infect Dis. 1995 Jun;171(6):1411–1419. doi: 10.1093/infdis/171.6.1411. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Vandamme A. M., Van Dooren S., Kok W., Goubau P., Fransen K., Kievits T., Schmit J. C., De Clercq E., Desmyter J. Detection of HIV-1 RNA in plasma and serum samples using the NASBA amplification system compared to RNA-PCR. J Virol Methods. 1995 Mar;52(1-2):121–132. doi: 10.1016/0166-0934(94)00151-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Winters M. A., Tan L. B., Katzenstein D. A., Merigan T. C. Biological variation and quality control of plasma human immunodeficiency virus type 1 RNA quantitation by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. J Clin Microbiol. 1993 Nov;31(11):2960–2966. doi: 10.1128/jcm.31.11.2960-2966.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Yen-Lieberman B., Brambilla D., Jackson B., Bremer J., Coombs R., Cronin M., Herman S., Katzenstein D., Leung S., Lin H. J. Evaluation of a quality assurance program for quantitation of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 RNA in plasma by the AIDS Clinical Trials Group virology laboratories. J Clin Microbiol. 1996 Nov;34(11):2695–2701. doi: 10.1128/jcm.34.11.2695-2701.1996. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Yerly S., Kaiser L., Baumberger C., Hirschel B., Perrin L. H. Early and prolonged decrease of viremia in HIV-1-infected patients treated with didanosine. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr Hum Retrovirol. 1995 Apr 1;8(4):358–364. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. van Gemen B., Kievits T., Schukkink R., van Strijp D., Malek L. T., Sooknanan R., Huisman H. G., Lens P. Quantification of HIV-1 RNA in plasma using NASBA during HIV-1 primary infection. J Virol Methods. 1993 Jul;43(2):177–187. doi: 10.1016/0166-0934(93)90075-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Clinical Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES