ELISA for AIDS-Protective Antibodies

A new test detects the presence of anti-R7V antibodies in HIV-seropositive patients, which helps doctors to identify patients who may be nonprogressors.

Anti-R7V antibodies from HIV-positive patients have the property of neutralizing all strains of HIV, no matter the genotype, phenotype, or geographical area of the patient, even if the strain is resistant to anti-retroviral drugs. When HIV patients remain asymptomatic for more than 10 years after being detected as seropositive, they are considered as being nonprogressors. They have stable CD4 counts and viral load that does not evolve.

The new test is an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). It does not discount the efficacy of anti-retroviral therapy, but the use of anti-viral agents can cause side effects and inconveniences for patients. The test helps doctors make therapeutic decisions and is used at the initiation of seropositivity to detect nonprogressors. In conjunction with CD4 counts and viral load, it helps doctors decide whether or not to apply therapy.

A retrospective study of 989 samples collected from HIV-positive patients demonstrated a correlation of 85.7% between nonprogression and the presence of anti-R7V antibodies in HIV-positive patients. The test has been licensed from Professor Jean Claude Chermann of the University of Chicago (IL, USA) by Ivagen (Nimes, France).

"This is an exceptional opportunity for Ivagen,” noted Dr. Jean-Claude Aziz, president of Ivagen. "Management of HIV has become increasingly difficult with viral resistance and fastidious regimes for the patients, and the anti-R7V ELISA will bring an important test to the arsenal already available to the clinician.”




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