To investigate if immunological factors associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) affect the result of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) screening by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
100 RA cases were enrolled from January 2012 to February 2013 into this study. HIV screening was conducted with ECLIA detecting both HIV-1 p24 antigen, HIV-1 and HIV-2 antibodies, with ELISA and colloidal gold method detecting HIV-1 and HIV-2 antibodies. The samples producing positive results were submitted to the Center for Disease Control for confirmation using Western blotting method. The antibody titers of rheumatoid factors (RF) including RF-IgG, RF-IgM, RF-IgA, and CCP-IgG were analyzed by ELISA.
The HIV positive-rate determined by ECLIA was significantly higher than that by ELISA and colloidal gold method (P<0.01). The false-positive rate of HIV screening was associated with antibody titers of RF-IgG, RF-IgM, RF-IgA, and CCP-IgG in RA (P<0.01).
Immunological factors, including RF and anti-CCP antibody, may influence the screening of HIV by ECLIA, producing false-positive result.