Validation of a new immunoblot assay (LiaTek HIV III) for confirmation of human immunodeficiency virus infection.

Background: Used as a supplemental assay, new anti-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) immunoblots, employing recombinant and synthetic antigens, appeared to resolve the majority of samples with false-reactive Western blot results. Would it be possible to completely replace the Western blot by an immunoblot for confirmation and exclusion of HIV infection?

Study Design And Methods: The sensitivity of the new LiaTek HIV III immunoblot assay (Organon Teknika, Turnhout, Belgium) was tested on 416 Western-blot positive samples (386 HIV-1, 22 HIV-2, 1 HIV-1/2, and 7 HIV-O) and on 45 HIV-1 seroconversion samples. The specificity was tested on 146 samples from noninfected donors with false-positive results on a HIV screening test.