Development and evaluation of a qualitative reverse-transcriptase nested polymerase chain reaction protocol for same-day viral validation of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 ribonucleic acid in processed semen.

Objective: To develop a method for same-day validation of processed semen in the setting of assisted reproductive techniques (ART) with patients who are seropositive for human immunodeficiency virus, type 1 (HIV-1).

Design: Laboratory experiments.

Setting: University hospital.

Multicenter quality control of the detection of HIV-1 genome in semen before medically assisted procreation.

Couples in whom the man is HIV-1-positive may use medically assisted procreation in order to conceive a child without contaminating the female partner. But, before medically assisted procreation, the semen has to be processed to exclude HIV and tested for HIV nucleic acid before and after processing. The performance was evaluated of the technical protocols used to detect and quantify HIV-1 in 11 centers providing medically assisted procreation for couples with HIV-1 infected men by testing panels of seminal plasma and cells containing HIV-1 RNA and/or DNA.

Medically assisted reproduction in the presence of chronic viral diseases.

Teams practising medically assisted reproduction techniques try to avoid viruses as much as possible. Attitudes towards chronic carriers of viruses are rapidly changing, especially for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients. We focus our attention on the legitimacy of systematic screening before assisted reproductive techniques and the need for specialized approaches including an adapted laboratory for viral hazards as well as the need for a multidisciplinary team.