Journal Article

Evaluation of Dried Blood Spots with a Multiplex Assay for Measuring Recent HIV-1 Infection

Curtis, Kelly A., Owen, S. Michele, Kennedy, M. Susan, Ambrose, Krystin M.

2014

Overview

Laboratory-based HIV tests for recent infection (TRIs), which primarily measure a specific serological biomarker(s) that distinguishes recent from long-term HIV infection, have facilitated the estimation of population-based incidence. Dried blood spots (DBS) on filter paper are an attractive sample source for HIV surveillance, given the simplified and cost-effective methods of specimen collection, storage, and shipment. Here, we evaluated the use of DBS in conjunction with an in-house multiplex TRI, the HIV-1-specific Bio-Plex assay, which measures direct antibody binding and avidity to multiple HIV-1 analytes. The assay performance was comparable between matched plasma and DBS samples from HIV-1 infected individuals obtained from diverse sources. The coefficients of variation, comparing the median antibody reactivity for each analyte between plasma and DBS, ranged from 2.78% to 9.40% and the correlation coefficients between the two sample types ranged from 0.89 to 0.97, depending on the analyte. The correlation in antibody reactivity between laboratory and site-prepared DBS for each analyte ranged from 0.87 to 0.98 and from 0.90 to 0.97 between site-prepared DBS and plasma. The correlation in assay measures between plasma and DBS indicate that the sample types can be used interchangeably with the Bio-Plex format, without negatively impacting the misclassification rate of the assay.

• Publisher: Public Library of Science,Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subject: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome / AIDS / Analytical chemistry / Antibodies / Antibody Affinity / Assaying / Avidity / Biology and life sciences / Biomarkers / Blood / Calypte / Coefficient of variation / Correlation / Correlation analysis / Correlation coefficient / Correlation coefficients / Diagnosis / Disease prevention / Dried Blood Spot Testing - methods / Drug resistance / Epidemiological Monitoring / Filter paper / Health aspects / HIV / HIV infections / HIV Infections - diagnosis / HIV tests / HIV-1 - genetics / Homosexuality, Male / Human immunodeficiency virus / Humans / Immunoassay / Infections / Male / Measurement / Medical diagnosis / Medicine and health sciences / Multiplexing / Plasma - virology / Population statistics / RNA, Viral - blood / Samples / Specimen Handling - methods / Spots / Viral Load