A new ultrasensitive assay for quantitation of HIV-1 RNA in plasma

Nucleic acid-based diagnostic assays for the quantitation of plasma HIV-1 RNA levels are used to monitor disease progression and the response of patients to antiretroviral drug therapy. The LCx HIV RNA Quantitative Assay (Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago, IL) is an assay for the quantitation of HIV type 1 RNA in plasma that uses competitive reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) followed by Microparticle Enzyme Immunoassay, and includes an internal control for inhibition and RNA recovery, that is taken through the entire sample preparation procedure. The performance of the assay was assessed for 1 and 0.2 ml sample volumes. For a 1 ml sample volume, the lower limit of detection was found to be 50 copies/ml with a linear range from 50 to 1 million copies/ml. For a 0.2 ml sample volume, the lower limit of detection was found to be 178 copies/ml with a linear range from 178 to 5 million copies/ml. The assay is able to detect and quantitate HIV subtypes A-G and group O. LCx HIV RNA assay quantitation results are highly correlated to the standard and ultrasensitive Amplicor HIV-1 Monitor assay (Roche Molecular Systems) quantitation results. Assay performance is consistent with the use of this test for routine quantitation of HIV-1 RNA in plasma.