HIV testing, 6 most reliable methods

At present, AIDS is one of the most harmful diseases. The possibility of cure if it is discovered in the late stage is very small. It can be seen that in order to cure the disease, it must be discovered and treated as soon as possible. There are many methods for detecting AIDS, including antibody testing, antigen testing, nucleic acid testing, virus isolation, test paper testing, whole blood and serum testing, all of which are very effective.

1. Antibody testing

The main ones are enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and chemiluminescence assay. ELISA uses detergent-lysed HIV or infected cell fluid extracts as antigens, and IFA uses infected cell smears as antigens for antibody detection. If a positive sample is found, it should be repeated. To prevent false positives, Western blot (WB) can be performed for further confirmation.

The WB method uses polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to separate HIV proteins, and then transfers different protein bands to nitrocellulose membranes by transfer electrophoresis. After incubation with patient serum, the membranes are stained with anti-human globulin protease-labeled antibodies. Antibodies against different structural proteins, such as anti-gp120, gp41, and P24 antibodies, can be detected with high specificity.

The rapid test method, also known as the gold label method, is also a method of antibody detection. It is based on the principle of immunochromatography and is used for qualitative detection of HIV antibodies.

2. Antigen detection

ELISA is used to detect P24 antigen. In the early stage of HIV infection, when antibodies have not yet appeared, the antigen is present in the blood. Since the amount of P24 is too small, the positive rate is usually low. Currently, the sensitivity is improved by using the dissociation immune complex method or concentrating the P24 antigen.

3. Nucleic acid testing

The PCR method for detecting HIV genes has the advantages of being rapid, efficient, sensitive and specific. Currently, this method has been used in the early diagnosis of HIV infection and in the research of AIDS. Including DNA testing and RNA testing.

4. Virus Isolation

The commonly used method is the co-culture method, which is to separate mononuclear cells from normal human peripheral blood, stimulate them with PHA and culture them, and then add them to the patient's mononuclear cell diagnosis and AIDS research.

5. Test paper detection

The AIDS test strip is a new generation of testing reagent developed using colloidal gold immunochromatography technology. It can detect HIV-1/2 specific antibodies in serum or plasma specimens. The entire operation takes a total of 15 minutes. The movements are simple, quick, accurate, come with their own quality control, and do not require any additional reagents. It is suitable for personal testing as well as testing in major hospitals and disease control centers.

6. Whole blood and serum testing

Regarding whole blood and serum tests, there is no difference in the accuracy of the test results as long as the time for determining the results does not exceed 30 minutes. However, for personal rapid self-testing, only whole blood testing can be used. Regarding whole blood and serum tests, there is no difference between the two as long as the result time does not exceed 30 minutes.