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Recovery of infectious human immunodeficiency virus from cells treated with 1% paraformaldehyde
1Centers for Disease Control, Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, GA 30333.
Insights
Fixing cells with 1% paraformaldehyde significantly reduces human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infectivity. However, this common lab method does not fully inactivate HIV in treated cells, even after 18 hours.
Area of Science:
- Virology
- Cell Biology
- Immunology
Background:
- 1% paraformaldehyde fixation is standard for flow cytometry of HIV-infected cells.
- Previous research suggests 1% paraformaldehyde inactivates cell-free HIV.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy of 1% paraformaldehyde in inactivating cell-associated HIV.
- To assess inactivation in both chronically infected cell lines and acutely infected primary lymphocytes.
Main Methods:
- Testing 1% paraformaldehyde inactivation on an HIV-infected cell line.
- Assessing inactivation on peripheral blood lymphocytes acutely infected with HIV.
- Measuring infectious titer reduction post-treatment.
Main Results:
- A significant reduction in infectious titer was observed after 1% paraformaldehyde treatment.
- Complete inactivation of HIV was not achieved, even with treatment up to 18 hours.
Conclusions:
- 1% paraformaldehyde significantly reduces, but does not eliminate, HIV infectivity in cells.
- Caution is advised when handling paraformaldehyde-fixed HIV-infected cells, as they may remain infectious.
Abstract:
Fixation and preservation of cells with 1% paraformaldehyde is a common practice in laboratories performing flow cytometric analysis of cells from persons infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Previous studies indicated that 1% paraformaldehyde effectively inactivates cell-free HIV. In this study, we tested the inactivation capacity of 1% paraformaldehyde on a cell line chronically infected with HIV and human peripheral blood lymphocytes acutely infected with the virus. We found a significant decrease in the infectious titer of the cells after treatment with 1% paraformaldehyde. However, we did not find total inactivation of the specimens treated for up to 18 h.
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