Background: Saliva has been recommended as an alternative non-invasive specimen for detection of antibodies to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) because of the inherent disadvantages of using serum for such testing.
Methods: In a double-blind study, paired serum and saliva specimens were collected from 100 known HIV antibody seropositive and 100 seronegative individuals. The serum was tested in the conventional way while saliva was tested after modifying the routinely used serum enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay so as to detect antibodies to HIV from saliva.
Results: The sensitivity of saliva for HIV antibody detection using the modified test protocol was found to be 95% by GENELAVIA MIXT ELISA and 97% by DETECT-HIV ELISA, while the specificity for both was 100%. Identical results were obtained even after 7 months of storage of the saliva at 4 degrees C without any preservatives.
Conclusion: Saliva is a safe and cost-effective alternative to serum for HIV antibody detection for most surveillance purposes but not for diagnostic purposes.