Urine antibody tests: new insights into the dynamics of HIV-1 infection

Noninvasive methodologies provide alternatives to diagnostic blood tests and have high patient acceptance, increased safety, and reduced costs. Such tests may supplement or replace blood diagnostic assays currently in use.

Using a licensed urine-based test for antibody to HIV-1, we performed 25 991 HIV-1 urine antibody enzyme immunoassay (EIA) screening tests [confirmable by HIV-1 Western blot (WB)] on paired urine and blood specimens obtained from high- and low-risk HIV-1 subjects collected at six sites representative of the US population.

Using HIV-1 urine EIA tests confirmed by urine Western blot, a compartmentalized immune response (urine positive/serum negative) occurred in 0.24% of a cohort of 11 896 subjects. In the same cohort, specimens that were urine negative/serum positive occurred in 0.17% of subjects. In a second study of 25 991 subjects that included 859 high-risk individuals, the false-positive urine EIA frequency (urine WB negative or indeterminate) was 1.3%. This false-positive frequency in the high-risk cohort was attributed, in part, to an IgA antibody response. We tabulated urine and serum indeterminate reactivities and examined their possible causes. Data are presented showing that antibodies from a seroindeterminate HIV-1vau group O subject were reactive in urine EIA and urine WB tests. An analysis of the HIV-1vau strain group O env nucleotide sequence disclosed a high frequency of homology with human chromosome 7q31, a fragile site implicated in many human malignancies.

These results demonstrate the utility of urine for alternative HIV-1 antibody testing and provide new insights into the pathogenesis of HIV-1 infection and into potential application of this approach in investigation of other microbial pathogens and toxic compounds.