In-vitro production of HIV-specific antibody in children at risk of AIDS.

To improve on the early diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, 37 children born to HIV-infected mothers and 22 controls were investigated for in-vitro synthesis of IgG antibody directed against HIV components. For 14 of 16 infected children western blot showed HIV-specific IgG in the supernatants of cultures of their peripheral blood lymphocyte cultures. HIV-specific IgG synthesis was detected in cultures from 4 out of 17 seropositive children aged under 15 months with no clinical or laboratory evidence of infection. No HIV-specific IgG production was observed in cultures from 4 uninfected children or 22 controls. The results show that the demonstration of in-vitro production of HIV-specific IgG may help in the early diagnosis of HIV infection in children.