A comparison of the Abbott and Organon " Detuned" assays for the detection of recent HIV seroconversion.
Int Conf AIDS 2002 Jul 7-12; 14:(abstract no. MoOrC1043)
Parry JV, Murphy G, Osner N, Charlet A, Jordan LF, Porter K, Whitworth J Central Public Health Laboratory, London, United Kingdom
BACKGROUND - Two assays, the Abbott 3A11 and the Organon Teknika Vironostika (OT), have been validated for use in the Serological Testing Algorithm for Recent HIV Seroconversion (STARHS). The ability of these assays accurately to identify recent infection was compared. METHODS - Single specimens from seroconvertors on the UK HIV Seroconversion Register and serial specimens from seroconverters obtained through the Uganda Virus Research Institute, Entebbe, were tested in both assays. Both assays were also applied to serum specimens from the HIV Prevalence Monitoring Programme of England & Wales. The correlation of the two assays' results on these specimens was examined. RESULTS - General correlation between assays was good (r2 = 0.71), though, the OT assay assigned more specimens as recent infections than Abbott. Both assays performed relatively poorly on specimens from HIV 1 non-B subtypes, taking longer than expected to show a conversion from a result signifying an incident infection to one consistent with long standing infection. STARHS confirmatory test results in the Abbott assay correlated less well with the screening result than OT. The OT assay misclassified one Seroconversion Register specimen as long standing. CONCLUSIONS - Both assays are useful indicators of recent infection, especially in treatment naïve HIV 1 subtype B infected individuals. However, careful control of each assay and knowledge of the subjects being investigated is required for accurate interpretation of the data. The OT assay is easier to use and is able to allow processing of more specimens per run than the Abbott assay. The OT assay is also able to identify recent infections over a longer period than the Abbott assay.
Keywords: AEGIS, HIV Seropositivity, HIV-1, HIV Infections, England, Wales, Uganda
