Translational HIV-1 research: from routine diagnostics to new virology insights in Amsterdam, the Netherlands during 1983-2013

• Published in: Retrovirology Vol. 10; no. 1; p. 93
• Main Authors: van der Kuyl, Antoinette C, Bakker, Margreet, Jurriaans, Suzanne, Back, Nicole K T, Pasternak, Alexander O, Cornelissen, Marion, Berkhout, Ben
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 28.08.2013; BioMed Central
• Subjects: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; AIDS; Antiretroviral drugs; Blood products; Care and treatment; Diagnosis; Diagnostic Tests, Routine - history; Diagnostic Tests, Routine - methods; Diagnostic Tests, Routine - trends; Drug resistance; Drug therapy; Evolution; Evolution, Molecular; Genome, Viral; Genomics; Health aspects; Health services; Hemophilia; History, 20th Century; History, 21st Century; HIV; HIV (Viruses); HIV Infections - diagnosis; HIV Infections - virology; HIV patients; HIV testing; HIV-1 - classification; HIV-1 - genetics; HIV-1 - isolation & purification; Hospitals; Human immunodeficiency virus; Human immunodeficiency virus 1; Humans; Medical centers; Medical colleges; Mens health; Mutation; Netherlands; Patients; Review; Risk factors; Studies; Translational Medical Research - history; Translational Medical Research - trends; Viral Load - history; Viral Load - methods; Viral Load - trends; Womens health; Netherlands
• ISSN: 1742-4690; 1742-4690
• DOI: 10.1186/1742-4690-10-93

An HIV-1 diagnostic laboratory was established in the Academic Medical Center (AMC) of the University of Amsterdam after the discovery of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as the cause of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The first AIDS patients were diagnosed here in 1981 and since 1983 we have tested the samples of 50992 patients using a variety of assays that greatly improved over the years. We will describe some of the basic results from this diagnostic laboratory and then focus on the spin-off in terms of the development of novel virus assays to detect super-infections and ultra-sensitive assays to measure the intracellular HIV-1 RNA load. We also review several original research findings in the field of HIV-1 virology that stem from initial observations made in the diagnostic unit. This includes the study of genetic defects in the HIV-1 genome and time trends of the replication fitness over 30 years of viral evolution, but also the description of novel HIV-1 variants in difficult-to-diagnose clinical specimen.