Evaluation of enzyme-linked immunosorbent and alternative assays for detection of HIV antibodies using panels of Brasilian sera

Ivo-Dos-Santos, Jairo; Mello, Deise L. Campos; Couto-Fernandez, José C.; Passos, Roberto M.; Dias-Carneiro, Leila A.; Castilho, Euclides A.; Galvão-Castro, Bernardo

doi:10.1590/S0036-46651990000200006

Abstracts

Sera from 472 Brazilian subjects, confirmed to be either positive or negative for HIV antibodies and comprising the total clinical spectrum of HIV infection, were utilized in the evaluation of six commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), as well as of four alternative assays, namely indirect immunofluorescence (IIF), passive hemagglutination (PHA), dot blot and Karpas AIDS cell test. The sensitivities ranged from 100% (Abbott and Roche ELISA) to 84.2% (PHA) and the specificities ranged from 99.3% (IIF) to 80.2% (PHA). The sensitivity and specificity of the PHA and the sensitivity of the Karpas cell test were significantly lower than those of the other tests. Although the IFF and dot blot had good sensitivities and specificities, the six ELISA were more attractive than those tests when other parameters such as ease of reading and duration of assay were considered.

Quality control; HIV antibody tests; Brazilian sera

Os soros de 472 brasileiros, confirmados como sendo positivos ou negativos em relação à presença de anticorpos anti-HIV e compreendendo todo o espectro clínico da infecção, foram utilizados na avaliação de seis ensaios imunoenzimáticos comerciais (ELISA), bem como de quatro testes alternativos tais como imunofluorescência indireta (IFI), hemaglutinação passiva (HP), dot blot e Karpas AIDS cell test. As sensibilidades variaram de 100% (ELISA Abbott e Roche) a 84,2% (HP) e as especificidades variaram de 99,3% (IFI) a 80,2% (HP). A sensibilidade e especificidade da HP e a sensibilidade do Karpas AIDS cell test foram significativamente menores que os outros ensaios. Embora a IFI e o dot blot tivessem apresentado uma boa sensibilidade e especificidade, os ensaios imunoenzimáticos (ELISA) foram mais adequados para serem utilizados em triagem quando outros parâmetros tais como facilidade de leitura e interpretação dos resultados e duração dos ensaios foram considerados.

TECHNICAL TRIAL

Evaluation of enzyme-linked immunosorbent and alternative assays for detection of HIV antibodies using panels of Brasilian sera

Avaliação de testes sorológicos para a detecção de anticorpos anti-HIV em painéis de soros de brasileiros

Jairo Ivo-Dos-Santos^I; Deise L. Campos Mello^II; José C. Couto-Fernandez^I; Roberto M. Passos^II; Leila A. Dias-Carneiro^II; Euclides A. Castilho^II; Bernardo Galvão-Castro^I

^IFundação Oswaldo Cruz, WHO Collaborating Centre on AIDS, Rua Waldemar Falcão 123. Brotas. 41945 Salvador, Bahia, Brasil

^IIFundação Oswaldo Cruz, Av. Brasil, 4365. 21040. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil

SUMMARY

Sera from 472 Brazilian subjects, confirmed to be either positive or negative for HIV antibodies and comprising the total clinical spectrum of HIV infection, were utilized in the evaluation of six commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), as well as of four alternative assays, namely indirect immunofluorescence (IIF), passive hemagglutination (PHA), dot blot and Karpas AIDS cell test. The sensitivities ranged from 100% (Abbott and Roche ELISA) to 84.2% (PHA) and the specificities ranged from 99.3% (IIF) to 80.2% (PHA). The sensitivity and specificity of the PHA and the sensitivity of the Karpas cell test were significantly lower than those of the other tests.

Although the IFF and dot blot had good sensitivities and specificities, the six ELISA were more attractive than those tests when other parameters such as ease of reading and duration of assay were considered.

Key words: Quality control; HIV antibody tests; Brazilian sera.

RESUMO

Os soros de 472 brasileiros, confirmados como sendo positivos ou negativos em relação à presença de anticorpos anti-HIV e compreendendo todo o espectro clínico da infecção, foram utilizados na avaliação de seis ensaios imunoenzimáticos comerciais (ELISA), bem como de quatro testes alternativos tais como imunofluorescência indireta (IFI), hemaglutinação passiva (HP), dot blot e Karpas AIDS cell test. As sensibilidades variaram de 100% (ELISA Abbott e Roche) a 84,2% (HP) e as especificidades variaram de 99,3% (IFI) a 80,2% (HP). A sensibilidade e especificidade da HP e a sensibilidade do Karpas AIDS cell test foram significativamente menores que os outros ensaios.

Embora a IFI e o dot blot tivessem apresentado uma boa sensibilidade e especificidade, os ensaios imunoenzimáticos (ELISA) foram mais adequados para serem utilizados em triagem quando outros parâmetros tais como facilidade de leitura e interpretação dos resultados e duração dos ensaios foram considerados.

Full text available only in PDF format.

Texto completo disponível apenas em PDF.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work was partially supported by the Fundação Banco do Brasil (10/0212-7) and Pan American Health Organization (DRC/RG/BRA/88-003). We thank Dr. Lain C. Pontes de Carvalho and Mr. John Hendersen for reviewing this manuscript.

Recebido para publicação em 27/7/1989.

1. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL Classification system for human T-lymphotropic virus type III/lymphoadenopathy associated virus infection. M.M.W.R., 35: 334-339, 1986.
2. COUROUCE, A.M. Evaluation of eigth ELISA kits for the detection of anti-LAV/HTLV/III antibodies. Lancet, 2: 1152-1153, 1986.
3. GALLO, R.C.; DIGGS, J.L.; SHELL, G.R.; DAILEY, P.J.; HOFFMAN, M.N. & RIGGS, J.L. Comparison of detection of antibody to the acquired immunodeficien cy syndrome virus by enzyme immunoassay, immunofluorescence and Western blot methods. J. clin. Microbiol., 23: 1049-1051, 1986.
4. GALVĂO-CASTRO, B.; COUTO-FERNANDEZ, J.C.; CASTILHO, E.A.; PEREIRA, H.G. & PEREIRA, M.S. Human immunodeficiency virus infection in Brazil. J. Amer. med. Ass., 257: 2592-2593, 1987.
5. IVO-DOS-SANTOS, J.; CAMPOS, D.L. & GALVĂO-CASTRO, B. Patterns of serologic response to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in Brazilians with different clinical forms of HIV infection. Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz, 84: 9-11, 1989.
6. IVO-DOS-SANTOS, J.; GALVĂO-CASTRO, B.; MELLO, D.C.L.; PEREIRA, H.G. & PEREIRA, M.S. Dot enzyme immunoassay: a simple, cheap and stable test for antibody to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). J. immunol. Meth., 99: 191-194, 1987.
⁷
MINISTÉRIO DA SAÚDE AIDS. Boletim Epidemiológico. Ano III, nº 03, Semana Epidemiológica 33 a 39, 1989.
8. MORTIMER, P.P.; PARRY, J.V. & MORTIMER, J.Y. Which anti-HTLV-III assays for screening and confirmatory testing? Lancet, 2: 873-877, 1985.
9. NAVARRO, M.D.R.; PINEDA, J.A.; VELARDO, M.A.; DE PESQUERA, F.G.; LEAL, M. & LISSEN, L. Recombinant EIA for anti-HIV testing is more specific than conventional EIA. Vox Sang. (Basel), 54: 62-63, 1988.
10. OZANNE, G. & FAVEL, M. Performance and reliability of five commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits in screening for anti-human immunodeficiency virus antibody in high-risk subjects. J. clin. Microbiol., 26: 1496-1500, 1988.
11. SANDSTROM, E.G.; SCHOOLEY, R.T.; HO, D.D.; BYINGTON, M.G.; SARNAGHADARAN, M.G.; MACLAINE, M.E.; ESSEX, M.; GALLO, R.C. & HIRSCH, M.S. Detection of human anti-HTLV-III antibodies by indirect immunofluorescence using fixed cells. Transfusion, 25: 308-312, 1985.
12. SARNAGHADARAN, M.G.; POPOVIC, M.; BRUSCH, L.; SCHUPBACH, J. & GALLO, R.C. Antibodies reactive with human T-lymphotropic retroviruses (HTLV-III) in the serum of patients with AIDS. Science, 224: 506-508, 1984.
13. SIVAK, S.L. & WORMSER, G.P. Predictive value of a screening test for antibodies to HTLV-III. Amer. J. clin. Path., 85: 700-703, 1986.
¹⁴
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION. Report of the meeting on guidelines for evaluation and standardization of HIV antibody kits, December, 1987.

Publication Dates

Publication in this collection
19 Sept 2006
Date of issue
Apr 1990

History

Received
27 July 1989

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

[1] 1. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL Classification system for human T-lymphotropic virus type III/lymphoadenopathy associated virus infection. M.M.W.R., 35: 334-339, 1986.

[2] 2. COUROUCE, A.M. Evaluation of eigth ELISA kits for the detection of anti-LAV/HTLV/III antibodies. Lancet, 2: 1152-1153, 1986.

[3] 3. GALLO, R.C.; DIGGS, J.L.; SHELL, G.R.; DAILEY, P.J.; HOFFMAN, M.N. & RIGGS, J.L. Comparison of detection of antibody to the acquired immunodeficien cy syndrome virus by enzyme immunoassay, immunofluorescence and Western blot methods. J. clin. Microbiol., 23: 1049-1051, 1986.

[4] 4. GALVĂO-CASTRO, B.; COUTO-FERNANDEZ, J.C.; CASTILHO, E.A.; PEREIRA, H.G. & PEREIRA, M.S. Human immunodeficiency virus infection in Brazil. J. Amer. med. Ass., 257: 2592-2593, 1987.

[5] 5. IVO-DOS-SANTOS, J.; CAMPOS, D.L. & GALVĂO-CASTRO, B. Patterns of serologic response to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in Brazilians with different clinical forms of HIV infection. Mem. Inst. Oswaldo Cruz, 84: 9-11, 1989.

[6] 6. IVO-DOS-SANTOS, J.; GALVĂO-CASTRO, B.; MELLO, D.C.L.; PEREIRA, H.G. & PEREIRA, M.S. Dot enzyme immunoassay: a simple, cheap and stable test for antibody to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). J. immunol. Meth., 99: 191-194, 1987.

[7] ⁷
MINISTÉRIO DA SAÚDE AIDS. Boletim Epidemiológico. Ano III, nº 03, Semana Epidemiológica 33 a 39, 1989.

[8] 8. MORTIMER, P.P.; PARRY, J.V. & MORTIMER, J.Y. Which anti-HTLV-III assays for screening and confirmatory testing? Lancet, 2: 873-877, 1985.

[9] 9. NAVARRO, M.D.R.; PINEDA, J.A.; VELARDO, M.A.; DE PESQUERA, F.G.; LEAL, M. & LISSEN, L. Recombinant EIA for anti-HIV testing is more specific than conventional EIA. Vox Sang. (Basel), 54: 62-63, 1988.

[10] 10. OZANNE, G. & FAVEL, M. Performance and reliability of five commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits in screening for anti-human immunodeficiency virus antibody in high-risk subjects. J. clin. Microbiol., 26: 1496-1500, 1988.

[11] 11. SANDSTROM, E.G.; SCHOOLEY, R.T.; HO, D.D.; BYINGTON, M.G.; SARNAGHADARAN, M.G.; MACLAINE, M.E.; ESSEX, M.; GALLO, R.C. & HIRSCH, M.S. Detection of human anti-HTLV-III antibodies by indirect immunofluorescence using fixed cells. Transfusion, 25: 308-312, 1985.

[12] 12. SARNAGHADARAN, M.G.; POPOVIC, M.; BRUSCH, L.; SCHUPBACH, J. & GALLO, R.C. Antibodies reactive with human T-lymphotropic retroviruses (HTLV-III) in the serum of patients with AIDS. Science, 224: 506-508, 1984.

[13] 13. SIVAK, S.L. & WORMSER, G.P. Predictive value of a screening test for antibodies to HTLV-III. Amer. J. clin. Path., 85: 700-703, 1986.

[14] ¹⁴
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION. Report of the meeting on guidelines for evaluation and standardization of HIV antibody kits, December, 1987.