Table 1.
Sensitivity of RT-PCR amplification of the 3′ end of Gag (p2/p7/p1/p6)- and Pol (PR/RT/INT)-coding sequences as a single large fragment or two overlapping shorter fragments
| Viral load (copies/ml) | % Positive samples by RT-PCR (no. of positive samples/total no. of samples tested)a |
|
|---|---|---|
| Large fragment | Two overlapping fragments | |
| <50b | 0 (0/11) | 0 (0/11) |
| 50–1,000 | 35 (6/17) | 47 (8/17) |
| 1,001–5,000 | 93 (27/29) | 97 (28/29) |
| 5,001–10,000 | 86 (19/22) | 100 (22/22) |
| >10,000 | 100 (39/39) | 97 (38/39) |
a
RT-PCR amplification of the single large fragment p2/p7/p1/p6/PR/RT/INT (3,428 nt) or the two shorter overlapping fragments p2/p7/p1/p6/PR/5′RT and 3′RT/INT (1,657 nt and 2,002 nt, respectively) performed with plasma samples (n = 118) from HIV-infected individuals with viral loads ranging from <50 to >10,000 copies of viral RNA/ml was performed as described in Materials and Methods.
b
The plasma viral loads of some of these samples may have been zero.