32 research outputs found
Kaposi's sarcomaâassociated herpesvirus serology in Europe and Uuganda: Multicentre study with multiple and novel assays
AbstractA multicentre study was undertaken to define novel assays with increased interâassay concordance, sensitivity, specificity and predictive value for serological diagnosis of human herpesvirus type 8 (HHVâ8) infection. A total of 562 sera from European and Ugandan human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)âinfected or uninfected individuals with or without Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and blood donors were examined under code by 18 different assays in seven European laboratories. Sera from KS patients and all nonâKS sera found positive by at least 70%, 80%, or 90% of the assays were considered "true positive." The validity of the assays was then evaluated by univariate logistic regression analysis. Two immunofluorescence assays (IFA) for detection of antibodies against HHVâ8 lytic (Rlyt) or latent (LLANA) antigens and two enzymeâlinkedâimmunosorbent assays (ELISA) (M2, EK8.1) for detection of antibodies against HHVâ8 structural proteins were found to be highly concordant, specific, and sensitive, with odds ratios that indicated a high predictive value. When used together, the two IFA (RlytâLLANA) showed the best combination of sensitivity (89.1%) and specificity (94.9%). The performance of these assays indicate that they may be used for the clinical management of individuals at risk of developing HHVâ8 associated tumours such as allograft recipients. J. Med. Virol. 65:123â132, 2001. Š 2001 WileyâLiss, Inc