Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1987. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Chicago Tribune (CT) - FRIDAY May 29, 1987 Edition: SPORTS FINAL Section: BUSINESS Page: 3 Word Count: 362
Pamela Sherrod
Abbott said the test is an enzyme immunoassay that detects at least one key antigen or protein produced by the AIDS virus--HIV. The test has been evaluated at eight clinical sites in the United States and Europe, where its been in use since late 1986.
Abbott filed its application for the test with the FDA on May 13.
Research published within the last year in the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, and the British Medical Journal shows that the antigen test may provide earlier detection of HIV infections, help identify which infected people are most likely to develop AIDS and is effective in monitoring the efficacy of various AIDS virus treatments.
A spokeswoman for Abbott said tests on the market detect antibodies to HIV, the presence of which indicate exposure to the virus. Abbott received approval from the FDA in March, 1985, to market the first test to screen blood and blood products for AIDS virus antibodies.
"The antigen test does not replace the antibody test," the spokeswoman said. "The two tests are very different."
An antigen is part of the virus and antibodies are produced by the body's immune system when a person is exposed to HIV.
Dr. Jean Pierre Allain, manager of medical research for hepatitis/AIDS diagnostic products at Abbott, said frequent patient monitoring with the antigen test will also help physicians determine whether people being treated with various antiviral drugs are responding.
Allain said the test could be valuable for determining the stage of the disease at which certain drugs, including the drug azidothymidine (AZT), are most effective.
Dr. Jaap Goudsmit, who heads the retrovirus laboratory at the University of Amsterdam, said HIV antigens can appear temporarily as early as two weeks after infection, whereas antibodies are first detectable approximately six to 10 weeks later.
The ability to detect people recently infected with the AIDS virus also points to the potential application of the antigen test to be used to screen donated blood, the Abbott spokeswoman said.
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