Identifying Recent HIV Infections: From Serological Assays to Genomics

Viruses

Sikhulile Moyo²  Eduan Wilkinson¹  Vladimir Novitsky³  Alain Vandormael¹  Simani Gaseitsiwe³  Max Essex³  Susan Engelbrecht²  Tulio de Oliveira¹ 

[1] Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies, Doris Duke Medical Research Centre, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4041, South Africa;Division of Medical Virology, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg 7505, South Africa;Botswana-Harvard AIDS Institute Partnership, Private Bag BO320, Gaborone, Botswana;

关键词: recent HIV infection;    viral diversity;    serology-based assays;    molecular-based assays;   

DOI  :  10.3390/v7102887

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

In this paper, we review serological and molecular based methods to identify HIV infection recency. The accurate identification of recent HIV infection continues to be an important research area and has implications for HIV prevention and treatment interventions. Longitudinal cohorts that follow HIV negative individuals over time are the current gold standard approach, but they are logistically challenging, time consuming and an expensive enterprise. Methods that utilize cross-sectional testing and biomarker information have become an affordable alternative to the longitudinal approach. These methods use well-characterized biological makers to differentiate between recent and established HIV infections. However, recent results have identified a number of limitations in serological based assays that are sensitive to the variability in immune responses modulated by HIV subtypes, viral load and antiretroviral therapy. Molecular methods that explore the dynamics between the timing of infection and viral evolution are now emerging as a promising approach. The combination of serological and molecular methods may provide a good solution to identify recent HIV infection in cross-sectional data. As part of this review, we present the advantages and limitations of serological and molecular based methods and their potential complementary role for the identification of HIV infection recency.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.