Detection of HIV-1 distribution in different blood fractions by two nucleic acid amplification assays

A new amplification procedure, NASBA (nucleic acid sequence-based amplification), was used together with the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect HIV-1 sequences in different blood fractions of both HIV-infected and uninfected samples. We tested whole blood, plasma, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), and platelets. No HIV-1 sequences were found in blood fractions of 37 uninfected persons either by PCR, reverse transcriptase-PCR (RT-PCR), or NASBA. We found that none of the infected plasma samples contained HIV-1 DNA sequences. However, a high percentage of these plasma samples was positive for HIV-1 RNA: 86% by NASBA and 80% by RT-PCR. The concordance on a sample-to-sample basis of NASBA and RT-PCR was 91%. Only 33% of the plasma samples was HIV-1 p24-antigen positive, demonstrating the superior sensitivity of amplification procedures. We found that almost all PBMC fractions were positive for HIV-1 (pro)viral sequences (99% HIV-1 DNA positive, 91% HIV-1 RNA positive). A large proportion of the platelet fractions contained HIV-1 RNA, as demonstrated by positive RT-PCR and NASBA results. We found an inverse relation between CD4+ T cell count and T cell reactivity on the one hand and detection of HIV-1 sequences by PCR, RT-PCR, and NASBA on the other hand in all blood fractions. Quantification of the HIV-1 PCR signal in PBMCs revealed an inverse relation of proviral titers with CD4+ levels. This finding supports earlier observations that clinical disease and low CD4+ cell counts are related to an increased viral burden.