Clinical Usefulness of Human Immunodeficiency Virus(HIV)-1 p24 Antigen Testing

Han, Kyou Sup; Park, Myoung Hee; Hwang, Yoo Sung; Lee, Yong Rae; Kim, Sang In

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Recently some countries such as U.S.A. and Canada where human immunodeficiency virus(HIV) infection is rather prevalent, included HIV-1 p24 antigen test as a routine donor blood screening. This study was performed to evaluate the advantage of additional p24 antigen testing for the prevention of transfusion-associated AIDS infection in Korea.
METHODS
Blood collected from 1726 volunteer blood donors, 16 HIV-positive patients, 39 sera from 4 commercial seroconversion panels, 15 sera included in low titer performance panel were tested with HIV-1 p24 Antigen ELISA Test System(Ortho Diagnostic Systems, U.S.A.). Anti-HIV antibody was also measured in parallel employing commercial kits produced by two world-famous companies. For some sera, western blot testing was additionally done.
RESULTS
False-positive rate of p24 antigen testing was 0.06%. In 2 examples from 4 seroconversion panels, the p24 antigen test detected HIV infection 1-25 days and 11-47 days earlier than anti-HIV tests.
CONCLUSION
Additional p24 antigen testing was found to have a potential to reduce transfusion-associated HIV infections. Including the p24 antigen testing as a routine donor screening should be considered if the number of transfusion-associated HIV infections continues to grow in Korea.