Evaluation of a Dried Blood and Plasma Collection Device, SampleTanker®, for HIV Type 1 Drug Resistance Genotyping in Patients Receiving Antiretroviral Therapy.

Diallo K, Lehotzky E, Zhang J, Zhou Z, de Rivera IL, Murillo WE, Nkengasong J, Sabatier J, Zhang G, Yang C.

Source

1 International Laboratory Branch, Division of Global HIV/AIDS, CGH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , Atlanta, Georgia .

Abstract

Abstract Whatman 903 filter paper is the only filter paper that has been used for HIV drug resistance (HIVDR) genotyping in resource-limited settings. In this study, we evaluated another dried blood specimen collection device, termed SampleTanker^® (ST), for HIVDR genotyping. Blood specimens from 123 antiretroviral therapy (ART)-experienced patients were used to prepare ST whole blood and ST plasma specimens; they were then stored at ambient temperature for 2 or 4 weeks. The remaining plasma specimens were stored at -80°C and used as frozen plasma controls. Frozen plasma viral load (VL) was determined using the Roche Amplicor HIV-1 Monitor test, v.1.5 and 50 specimens with VL ≥ 3.00 log₁₀ copies/ml were genotyped using the broadly sensitive genotyping assay. The medium VL for the 50 frozen plasma specimens with VL ≥ 3.00 log₁₀ was 3.58 log₁₀ copies/ml (IQR: 3.32-4.11) and 96.0% (48/50) of them were genotyped. Comparing to frozen plasma specimens, significantly lower genotyping rates were obtained from ST whole blood (48.98% and 42.85%) and ST plasma specimens (36.0% and 36.0%) stored at ambient temperature for 2 and 4 weeks, respectively (p< 0.001). Nucleotide sequence identity and resistance profile analyses between the matched frozen plasma and ST whole blood or ST plasma specimens revealed high nucleotide sequence identities and concordant resistance profiles (98.1% and 99.0%, and 96.6% and 98.9%, respectively). Our results indicate that with the current design, the ST may not be the ideal dried blood specimen collection device for HIVDR monitoring for ART patients in resource-limited settings.