False-Positive ELISA Results?!

[sisco]

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Hey, guys! I have a quick question that I hope somebody will be able to answer. When undergoing an ELISA test to detect HIV, how exactly can a previous Hepatitis B vaccination produce a false-positive result? Also, how can malignant diseases cause false-negative results in the aforementioned test? I've been scouring the internet with no luck. I hope someone will be able to help. Many thanks in advance!

 

[cpants]

Hey, guys! I have a quick question that I hope somebody will be able to answer. When undergoing an ELISA test to detect HIV, how exactly can a previous Hepatitis B vaccination produce a false-positive result? Also, how can malignant diseases cause false-negative results in the aforementioned test? I've been scouring the internet with no luck. I hope someone will be able to help. Many thanks in advance!

No idea how a Hep B vaccine could cause a false positive unless there is some similarity between the hep b antigen used and the HIV antigen used in the test. False negative can be caused by malignant disease if the cancer impairs the immune response of that person. Certain blood cancers can cause huge clonal populations of B cells for example, and the person basically doesn't have any other circulating antibodies besides that clonal expansion. Thus no HIV antibodies, false negative ELISA.

 

[jandrewstarr]

Just a guess, but isn't it possible that Hep B antibodies are specific for an antigenic epitope that is similar enough to the HIV epitope to cause the Hep B antibodies to bind the HIV antigen in the wells of the ELISA plate?

 

[wholeheartedly]

try the article below.

CLINICAL AND DIAGNOSTIC LABORATORY IMMUNOLOGY, Nov. 1995, p. 637–645 Vol. 2, No. 6

"Laboratory Tests for Detection of Human Immunodeficiency
Virus Type 1 Infection"
NAZIHA F. NUWAYHID*

 

[mannyowens]

Hey, guys! I have a quick question that I hope somebody will be able to answer. When undergoing an ELISA test to detect HIV, how exactly can a previous Hepatitis B vaccination produce a false-positive result? Also, how can malignant diseases cause false-negative results in the aforementioned test? I've been scouring the internet with no luck. I hope someone will be able to help. Many thanks in advance!

A false positive ELISA result for HIV is most likely due to cross reactivity by a somewhat homologous viral protein used for Hep B vaccination. This seems to be the only plausible explanation I can think of. I would also guess that false negatives could be caused by lymphoproliferative disorders.

 

[JokerMD]

HIV testing laws are so damn complex.....

 

[jheritage]

Not sure if it really helps all that much, but...

When I was 7, my PCP diagnosed me with AIDS and told my mom I had a few months to live. She decided to get a second opinion, and it turned out to be Hep-B... Granted, this was in 1989, so I doubt they had the tests that they do now...