Quantitative recovery of proviral HIV-1 DNA from leukocytes by the Dried Buffy Coat Spot method for real-time PCR determination.

The current recommended method for diagnosing HIV-1 in newborns infected vertically and in adults, during the "window period", is the detection of proviral HIV-1 DNA within leukocytes (buffy coat). This study describes a new portable Dried Buffy Coat Spot (DBCS) assay able to provide a quantitative proviral HIV-1 DNA recovery from the buffy coat. Fifty blood samples were collected from HIV-positive children and processed for DBCSs.

Use of capillary electrophoresis and poly(ethylene oxide) as the coating agent for the determination of substances related to heroin addiction and treatment.

The purpose of this study was to identify and quantify morphine, codeine, methadone, and 2-ethylidene-1,5-dimethyl-3,3-diphenylpyrrolidine using capillary electrophoresis in urine specimens. Adequate peak separation was achieved using nearly neutral pH phosphate buffer and poly(ethylene oxide) as the coating agent. This dynamic coating of the inner surface of the capillary was obtained by rinsing with a solution containing this compound.

Different behavior of erythrovirus B19 and torquetenovirus in response to a single step of albumin purification.

Background: The safety of human serum albumin (HSA) is of special interest with respect to virus transmission because of the wide use of this blood product as a therapeutic agent and also, added to other products, as an excipient or a stabilizer. Conflicting data are reported concerning HSA contamination by small, naked viruses such as the erythrovirus B19 (B19V) and the anellovirus torquetenovirus (TTV). This study has been performed to assess the effect of the HSA purification procedures on the viral contamination.

BK virus regulatory region sequence deletions in a case of human polyomavirus associated nephropathy (PVAN) after kidney transplantation.

The pathogenesis of polyomavirus-associated interstitial nephropathy (PVAN) in kidney transplant recipients is likely to depend upon multiple risk factors, which may include viral characteristics. We report a case of interstitial nephropathy in a young kidney allograft recipient, associated with a BK virus (BKV) strain with a rearranged transcription control region (TCR). BKV strains with deletions and nucleotide substitutions in the TCR were present in a kidney biopsy and urine samples.