Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1996. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Human immunodeficiency virus load. Quantitative assessment in semen from seropositive individuals and in spiked seminal plasma.
J Reprod Med. 1995 Nov;40(11):747-57. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE MED/96147047 Rasheed S; Li Z; Xu D; Department of Pathology, University of Southern California School; of Medicine, Los Angeles 90032-3626, USA.
Abstract:
OBJECTIVE: To establish criteria for the quantitation of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in seminal plasma, seminal cells and the whole semen of HIV-infected individuals. The reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), DNA-PCR and semen HIV culture assays were standardized by testing seminal plasma spiked separately with serial dilutions of cell-free and cell-associated HIV stocks of known titers. The standardized assays were then used to assess the quantity of virus in the freshly collected seminal cells and seminal plasma. RESULTS: Analysis of freshly collected peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and paired semen from HIV-seropositive men who had received antiviral drugs and/or immunemodulators indicated that HIV could be isolated from 42 of 55 (76%) samples of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and 13 of 55 (24%) samples of ejaculates. Since no semen sample was culture positive in the absence of culturable HIV in PBMCs of the same individual, RT-PCR was 5-125 times more sensitive than cell cultures for the quantitation of HIV spiked in seminal plasma, freshly collected seminal fluid and whole semen. Further, HIV-RNA was detected in samples containing higher dilutions of virus from which HIV was not isolated by culture. CONCLUSION: We conclude that cell-free HIV is present in excess of the culturable virus in all specimens tested and that the high sensitivity of HIV-RNA detection is useful for quantitation of the virus directly in seminal fluid, seminal cells and whole semen.
Keywords: Cell Survival Fractionation Human HIV/*CHEMISTRY HIV Seropositivity/*VIROLOGY Male Neutrophils/VIROLOGY Polymerase Chain Reaction RNA, Viral Semen/*VIROLOGY Sensitivity and Specificity Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S. Virology/METHODS JOURNAL ARTICLE
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Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1996. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
