[Sensitivity and specificity of the PCR-test-system for diagnosing HIV infections]

Sensitivity and specificity of the Russian PCR test system (experimental lot) were assessed with materials from 107 Russian patients with HIV infection and 100 donors without specific antibodies to HIV-1. The electrophoretic and hybridization-enzymatic methods for amplicon detection were compared. The sensitivity of electrophoresis was 89.9%, specificity 91%; for hybridization-enzymatic detection these values were 96.1 and 100%, respectively. Samples which yielded false-negative results were repeatedly tested by two-staged amplification (nested PCR) with external and internal primers. The main cause of false-negative results was a low concentration of proviral HIV-1 DNA in some blood samples.