Earlier diagnosis of HIV-1 infection by simultaneous detection of p24 antigen and antibody IgGs to p17 and reverse transcriptase in serum with enzyme immunoassay.

Serum samples of four HIV-1 seroconversion serum panels were subjected in a single assay tube simultaneously to ultrasensitive enzyme immunoassays (immune complex transfer enzyme immunoassays) for p24 antigen of HIV-1 and for antibody IgGs to p17 and reverse transcriptase (RT) of HIV-1. Signals became positive 7-15 days earlier than the detection of antibodies to HIV-1 by conventional methods and remained strongly positive even after levels of p24 antigen declined. Thus the simultaneous detection of p24 antigen and antibody IgGs to p17 and RT made possible both as early a diagnosis of HIV-1 infection as the appearance of p24 antigen in the circulation, shortening "the window period," and as reliable a diagnosis of the infection as that by the detection of antibodies to HIV-1 from the time of seroconversion until late stages of the infection, since the serum level of antibody IgG to RT was high not only in asymptomatic carriers but also in patients with AIDS-related complex and AIDS.