Low avidity antibody: a reliable method to diagnose a recent HIV-1 infection |
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Authors: | Re Maria Carla Schiavone Pasqua Vitone Francesca Bon Isabella De Crignis Elisa Biagetti Carlo Alessandrini Federica Gibellini Davide |
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Institution: | Section of Microbiology and Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy. mariacarla.re@unibo.it |
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Abstract: | Standard serological tests (both EIA and Immunoblotting) have reached high levels of sensitivity and reproducibility, but do not indicate whether infection is recent or longstanding. Since many patients with HIV-1 infection are not usually diagnosed until symptom presentation, the possibility to distinguish between acute and chronic infection has become increasingly important for the purposes of therapeutic decision-making, partner notification and epidemiological surveillance. We evaluated a guanidine-based-antibody-avidity assay in a selected group of recent (within six months from seroconversion) and chronic (more than forty eight months) HIV-1 infections in an attempt to shed more light on the significance of the avidity index in establishing the time of infection. Sera from newly infected individuals showed a low mean avidity index (ranging from 0.35 to 0.60 with a standard deviation 0.09) at baseline and a clear increasing value at the following times of observation. Our data showed that an avidity index <0.70 might be presumptive of infection occurring within 9 months. Avidity index levels might distinguish between acute and chronic infection. The method is semi-automated, inexpensive and easy to perform, and estimates the time elapsed from seroconversion, thereby identifying a recent infection. |
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