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Updated: Sep 18, 2025
Amplifying and Quantifying HIV-1 RNA in HIV Infected Individuals with Viral Loads Below the Limit of Detection by Standard Clinical Assays
Published on: September 26, 2011
Higher levels of cell-associated HIV-1 RNA transcripts predict risk of viral blips: implications for clinical
Kazuo Suzuki1,2, Angelique Levert1, Emma Yoo1
1St Vincent's Centre for Applied Medical Research, NSW State Reference Laboratory for HIV.
Abstract:
We hypothesized that high levels of cell-associated HIV-1 RNA transcripts (CA-HIV-RNA) led to an increased chance of subsequent viremic blips. In a prospective study, we followed 61 virally suppressed participants for four years. Baseline log10 CA-HIV-RNA was strongly associated with future blip in unadjusted [odds ratio (OR) 3.2, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 2.1-5.1, P < 0.0001] and adjusted models. A threshold of more than 91 copies/106 cells predicted blips with 71% sensitivity and 67% specificity (AUC = 0.73, 95% CI: 0.66-0.79).
