Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Wall Street Journal - June 15, 2004
Marilyn Chase, marilyn.chase@wsj.com
The new test detects tiny amounts of a protein called p24 inside the human immune-deficiency virus, said Niel Constantine of the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. The institute is led by Robert Gallo, co-discoverer of the AIDS virus.
The test, called Real-Time Immuno-PCR, would be 25 times as sensitive as current tests. It combines aspects of traditional antibody testing with PCR, or polymerase chain reaction, which amplifies small amounts of the virus.
Most current tests of viral load, or how much HIV a patient has in the bloodstream, can detect 50 copies of the virus, while the new test would lower the threshold of detection to two copies of the virus, said institute researchers Janet Barletta and Daniel Edelman. They are co-authors with Dr. Constantine of a paper in the July issue of the American Journal of Clinical Pathology.
Patients being treated with AIDS antiviral drugs need their virus levels monitored because a rise in the virus signals the rise of resistance to drugs. When drugs lose their effect, patients need to switch drugs.
Blood banking is another potential application. Dr. Constantine said he hopes the technology will detect HIV faster than current tests, which can detect it in blood 12 days after a person has been infected. About 12 million pints of blood a year are processed by U.S. blood banks. Validating a new test requires long-term studies and Food and Drug Administration approval.
Separately, Dr. Constantine said his group is developing a simpler, cheaper system for monitoring HIV-infected people under treatment in the developing world. The portable, battery-operated system could be used in settings without reliable power or sophisticated labs.
More than 90% of people with HIV are in the developing world, and the current push to expand drug access there increases pressure to monitor the anticipated rise of viral resistance. The portable HIV monitor is being developed in partnership with Bionor AS, of Skien, Norway, under a $200,000 grant from the Doris Duke Foundation.
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