A rapid screening test for HIV-1 antibodies: application to biological studies on human tissue

Human umbilical cord vessels are commonly used as a source of human vascular tissue for physiological studies and as a source of endothelial and smooth muscle cells. Blood samples from 236 umbilical cords were tested for the presence of HIV-1 antibodies to access the prevalence of HIV-1 infection and to evaluate possible methods for screening umbilical cords. Ten of the 236 samples were HIV-1 antibody positive by ELISA whereas 3 were positive by Western blot and a new method, the Quick-Western blot. Two of the 3 positive samples contained antibody bands against gp160, gp120, gp41, and p24 HIV-1 proteins, and one sample had antibodies against only gp160, gp120 and gp41. The Quick-Western blot required only 45 minutes for the analysis while the ELISA and Western blot took 3 hours and 18 hours, respectively. These data indicate that HIV-1 infection in mothers may present a hazard to researchers using human umbilical cords as a source of vascular tissue. The Quick-Western blot method is a simple, portable, rapid and accurate method that may be used to screen blood. The short analysis time of the Quick-Western blot allows the identification of infected blood before the tissue deteriorates as a source of cells or vascular tissue for experimental studies.