Open AccessMulticenter Evaluation of Use of Dried Blood and Plasma Spot Specimens in Quantitative Assays for Human Immunodeficiency Virus RNA: Measurement, Precision, and RNA Stability
Author(s) -
Donald Brambilla,
Cheryl Jennings,
Grace M. Aldrovandi,
James Bremer,
Anne Marie Comeau,
Sharon Cassol,
Ruth Dickover,
J. Brooks Jackson,
Jane Pitt,
John L. Sullivan,
Ann Butcher,
Lynell Grosso,
Patricia Reichelderfer,
Susan A. Fiscus
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of clinical microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.349
H-Index - 255
eISSN - 1070-633X
pISSN - 0095-1137
DOI - 10.1128/jcm.41.5.1888-1893.2003
Subject(s) - rna , virology , dried blood spot , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , viral load , dried blood , whole blood , spots , virus , blood plasma , viral disease , lentivirus , biology , medicine , chemistry , immunology , chromatography , biochemistry , pathology , gene
Eleven laboratories evaluated the use of dried blood and plasma spots for quantitation of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) RNA by two commercially available RNA assays, the Roche Amplicor HIV-1 Monitor and the bioMerieux NucliSens HIV-1 QT assays. The recovery of HIV RNA was linear over a dynamic range extending from 4,000 to 500,000 HIV type 1 RNA copies/ml. The Monitor assay appeared to have a broader dynamic range and seemed more sensitive at lower concentrations. However, the NucliSens assay gave more consistent results and could be performed without modification of the kit. HIV RNA was stable in dried whole blood or plasma stored at room temperature or at -70 degrees C for up to 1 year. Dried blood and dried plasma spots can be used as an easy and inexpensive means for the collection and storage of specimens under field conditions for the diagnosis of HIV infection and the monitoring of antiretroviral therapy.