Improved detection of HIV-2 DNA in clinical samples using a nested primer-based polymerase chain reaction

A two-step polymerase chain reaction (PCR), with four double (nested) primer pairs, used for the detection of HIV-2 in clinical samples is described. With these four nested primer pairs we could detect HIV-2 DNA in 17 of 17 virus isolates and in blood mononuclear cell samples from 31 of 37 (83.7%) seropositive individuals after ethidium bromide staining of the amplified DNA. The nested primer PCR was also compared with a single primer pair-based PCR followed by hybridization. The sensitivities of the two methods were almost equal, but the nested primer PCR offered obvious technical advantages.