Polymerase chain reaction technique for detection of human immunodeficiency virus type I

A total of 7 cases were assayed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with an HIV-1 primer set matched the polymerase region. One homosexual man who was HIV-1 antibody negative was used as a negative control, the other cases included HIV-1 antibody positive asymptomatic, ARC and AIDS cases. The length of the amplified DNA segment was 115 base pairs (bp) and the appearance of this segment showed positive reaction with the HIV-1 antigen. These six HIV-1 antibody positive cases, including an asymptomatic infant showed a segment size of about 115 bp and were recognized as HIV-1 positive infections, and whereas the HIV-1 antibody negative case did not.