Validation study of an automated chemiluminiscence assay to detect HIV antibodies in oral fluid specimens

Oral fluid specimens (OF) have been widely used to know the HIV prevalence in several key populations. Here, we aim to validate in OF specimens an existing HIV chemiluminiscence assay for serum specimens. Paired OF and serum specimens were collected from 83 known HIV-positives and 83 known HIV-negatives in order to validate the performance characteristics of the automated chemiluminiscence Liaison XL Murex HIV Ag/Ab assay (Diasorin Inc, Iberia) for HIV antibody detection in OF specimens. Among the previously known HIV-seropositive group, HIV antibodies were detected in 69 out of 83 OF specimens. All serum and OF specimens collected from 83 HIV seronegative individuals were negative. The sensitivity and specificity of this assay were 83.13% and 100% respectively in OF. The PPV and NPV values were 100% and 85.57% respectively. The correlation obtained between both specimens was (K: 0.83, [95% CI: 0.748–0.915]) according to the kappa index. The ROC curve analysing the optimal cut-off of the Liaison XL Murex HIV Ag/Ab to detect positive OF specimens revealed that a cut-off of 0.497 showed sensitivity and specificity values of 98.8% and 97.59% respectively. Taking into account this cut-off, the overall sensitivity and NPV of the Liaison XL Murex HIV Ag/Ab assay could rise from 83.1 to 98.8% and from 85.5 to 97.7%, respectively. Our results suggest that the Liaison XL HIV Ag/Ab assay is suitable for the detection of HIV antibodies in OF specimens.