Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1989. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
DETECTION OF HUMAN RETROVIRUSES
AIDS: Etiology, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention. Second Edition. DeVita VT Jr et al, eds. Philadelphia, Lippincott, p. 137-54, 1988.. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE ICDB/89650905 Poiesz BJ; Ehrlich GD; Papsidero LD; Sninsky JJ; SUNY Health Science Center, Syracuse, NY
Abstract:
Strategies employing a variety of serologic assays to detect natural antibodies to the viral structural proteins are currently used to identify patients who have been exposed to human retroviruses and to exclude potentially infected blood products from being transfused. Although some of these techniques are suitable for mass screening for viral exposure, it is clear that they provide insufficient information for complete analyses of these retroviral infections. Methodologies suitable for retroviral detection, quantitation, isolation, and characterization are described, with emphasis on human T-cell lymphoma/leukemia virus (HTLV-I) and HIV-I because they are currently the most clinically relevant isolates. However, these methodologies apply to any human retroviruses now known or yet to be discovered. Topics discussed include the retroviral life cycle, retrovirus detection and isolation, and clinical studies using gene amplification by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method for detection of viruses in patients and determining the in vitro or in vivo efficacy of antiviral agents. The PCR technique depends on prior knowledge of the nucleic acid sequences to be detected, but it requires fewer infected cells and is less tedious and laborious than in situ hybridization methods. Discovery of new human retroviruses necessarily involves the laborious task of selective cell culture, virus detection for reverse transcriptase, isolation of the virus, and its ultimate purification and characterization. Once the proteins and nucleic acids of the viruses have been established, sensitive and specific techniques exist for their rapid detection and analysis in future studies. This ability should allow the performance of important clinical studies. (83 Refs)
Keywords: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/*MICROBIOLOGY AIDS-Related Complex/GENETICS DNA, Viral/GENETICS Gene Amplification Genes, Viral Human HIV-1/*GENETICS/PHYSIOLOGY HTLV-I/*GENETICS/PHYSIOLOGY HTLV-I Infections/*MICROBIOLOGY Leukemia-Lymphoma, T-Cell, Acute, HTLV-I-Associated/GENETICS Viral Proteins/GENETICS Virus Replication MONOGRAPH REVIEW REVIEW, TUTORIAL
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Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1989. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
