TaqMan RT-PCR and VERSANT HIV-1 RNA 3.0 (bDNA) assay Quantification of HIV-1 RNA viral load in breast milk. |
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Authors: | Kiersten Israel-Ballard Rainer Ziermann Christian Leutenegger James Di Canzio Kimmy Leung Lynn Strom Barbara Abrams Caroline Chantry |
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Affiliation: | Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California, 140 Earl Warren Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-7360, USA. ballardk@berkeley.edu |
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Abstract: | BACKGROUND: Transmission of HIV via breast milk is a primary cause of pediatric HIV infection in developing countries. Reliable methods to detect breast milk viral load are important. OBJECTIVE: To correlate the ability of the VERSANT HIV 3.0 (bDNA) assay to real-time (RT) TaqMan PCR in quantifying breast milk HIV-1 RNA. STUDY DESIGN: Forty-six breast milk samples that had been spiked with cell-free HIV-1 and eight samples spiked with cell-associated HIV-1 were assayed for HIV-1 RNA by both VERSANT HIV 3.0 and TaqMan RNA assays. RESULTS: Only assays on the cell-free samples were statistically compared. Both a Deming regression slope and a Bland-Altman slope indicated a linear relationship between the two assays. TaqMan quantitations were on average 2.6 times higher than those of HIV 3.0. A linear relationship was observed between serial dilutions of spiked cell-free HIV-1 and both the VERSANT HIV 3.0 and the TaqMan RNA assays. CONCLUSION: The two methods correlated well although the VERSANT HIV 3.0 research protocol quantified HIV-1 RNA slightly lower than TaqMan. |
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