Specimens

A clinical procedure for rapid detection of human immun-odeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) by DNA amplification is demonstrated. The rapid procedure reduces handling requirements and amplificationtime and eliminates use of radioactivityfor the detection of the amplificationproduct. Total leukocyte lysates are the amplification substrates. Two conserved regions in the HIV-1 genome are ampli-fied by 45 cycles of a two-temperature thermal cycle and the amplification products are detected by ultraviolet light after electrophoresis on agarose gels. Twenty-four spec-imens clinicallydiagnosed by detection of antibody (lgG) to HIV-1 were confirmed by the rapid DNA amplification procedure. In a blind study, 56 samples positivefor HIV-1 DNA were detected in 503 individuals by the current classical polymerase chain reaction method; the same 5