Context
Induction of protective anti-HIV immune responses is the goal of an HIV vaccine. However, this may cause a reactive result by routine HIV testing in the absence of HIV infection.
Objective
This study evaluated the frequency of vaccine-induced seropositivity/reactivity (VISP) in HIV vaccine trial participants.
Design, Setting, and Participants
A routine diagnostic HIV algorithm was used for participants who completed 25 phase 1 and two phase 2 vaccine trials from 2000–2010 conducted in the United States, South America, Thailand, and Africa.
Main Outcome Measures
Three common FDA-approved enzyme immunoassay (EIA) HIV antibody kits were used to determine VISP. VISP was defined as being reactive on ≥ 1 EIA test, HIV-1 negative by nucleic acid testing, and Western blot negative, indeterminate, or atypical positive (profile consistent with vaccine product).
Results
Among 2176 HIV uninfected participants who received a vaccine product, 908 (41.7%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 39.6–43.8%) had VISP, but the occurrence of VISP varied substantially across different HIV vaccine product types: 399 of 460 (86.7%; 95% CI, 83.3–89.7%) adenovirus 5 product recipients, 295 of 552 (53.4%; 95% CI, 49.2–57.7%) recipients of poxvirus alone or as a boost, and 35 of 555 (6.3%; 95% CI, 4.4–8.7%) of DNA alone product recipients developed VISP. Overall, the highest proportion of VISP (40.9%; 891 of 2176 tested) occurred with the HIV 1/2 (rDNA) EIA compared to the rLAV EIA (21.4%; 150 of 700 tested), HIV-1 Plus O Microelisa System (14.7%; 193 of 1309 tested), and HIV 1/2 Peptide and HIV 1/2 Plus O (8.8%; 189 of 2150 tested) kits. Only 17 (1.9%) of the 908 participants with VISP tested nonreactive using the HIV 1/2 (rDNA) kit. All recipients of a gp140 vaccine (n= 70) had VISP, with 94.3% tested reactive to all three EIA kits tested. Among 901 participants with VISP and a Western blot result, 92 (10.2%) had a positive Western blot (displaying an atypical pattern consistent with vaccine product) and 592 (65.7%) had an indeterminate result. Only 8 participants with VISP received a vaccine not containing an env insert.
Conclusions
The induction of VISP in HIV vaccine recipients is common especially with vaccines containing both the HIV-1 envelope and gag proteins. Development and detection of VISP appear to be associated with the immunogenicity of the vaccine and the EIA assay used.