Preanalytic process linked to spuriously elevated HIV viral loads: improvement on an FDA-approved process.

Area of Science:

• Clinical diagnostics
• Virology
• Laboratory medicine

Background:

• Specimen processing is typically centralized in laboratory settings.
• Accurate quantification of viral load is critical for managing infectious diseases.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of plasma storage in primary tubes post-centrifugation on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) viral load assay results.
• To compare HIV viral load measurements between plasma processed with and without recentrifugation prior to testing.

Main Methods:

• Plasma specimens were processed and centrifuged in a central laboratory.
• One group of plasma samples remained in the primary tube after initial centrifugation.
• A comparative group underwent recentrifugation of plasma immediately before testing.

Main Results:

• Plasma stored in primary tubes post-centrifugation showed spuriously elevated HIV viral loads.
• Recentrifugation of plasma just prior to testing yielded significantly different results compared to non-recentrifuged samples.

Conclusions:

• The method of plasma processing and storage significantly affects HIV viral load assay accuracy.
• Allowing centrifuged plasma to remain in the primary tube can lead to falsely high HIV viral load readings.
• Implementing recentrifugation of plasma before testing is recommended to ensure reliable HIV viral load quantification.