| abstract |
The present disclosure relates to a diagnostic method to monitor coreceptor use in the treatment and clinical management of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. The present disclosure further relates to a diagnostic method applied to HIV-positive individuals undergoing HAART to monitor the suppression of CCRS- or CXCR4-specific strains. The diagnostic methods may be used to help decide when to initiate HAART, which agents to select, and to improve predictions of disease prognosis over time. The methods of the disclosure include cell-based methods, including cell fusion assays, and molecular-based methods, including heteroduplex tracking assay, to both quantitatively and qualitatively analyze patient-derived HIV for coreceptor usage. This disclosure further provides an improved CDGE-HTA diagnostic method for detecting HIV -1 strains which has a high sensitivity and specificity in HIV-I tropism detection. |