Enumeration of CD4+ T-Cells Using a Portable Microchip Count Platform in Tanzanian HIV-Infected Patients

BackgroundCD4+ T-lymphocyte count (CD4 count) is a standard method used to monitor HIV-infected patients during anti-retroviral therapy (ART). The World Health Organization (WHO) has pointed out or recommended that a handheld, point-of-care, reliable, and affordable CD4 count platform is urgently needed in resource-scarce settings. MethodsHIV-infected patient blood samples were tested at the point-of-care using a portable and label-free microchip CD4 count platform that we have developed. A total of 130 HIV-infected patient samples were collected that included 16 de-identified left over blood samples from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), and 114 left over samples from Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) enrolled in the HIV and AIDS care and treatment centers in the City of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The two data groups from BWH and MUHAS were analyzed and compared to the commonly accepted CD4 count reference method (FACSCalibur system). ResultsThe portable, battery operated and microscope-free microchip platform developed in our laboratory (BWH) showed significant correlation in CD4 counts compared with FACSCalibur system both at BWH (r = 0.94, p ConclusionsWe obtained CD4 counts of HIV-infected patients using a portable platform which is an inexpensive (背景 CD4+T淋巴细胞计数（CD4+ T-lymphocyte count，简称CD4 count）是监测接受抗反转录病毒治疗（anti-retroviral therapy, ART）的HIV感染者的标准临床检测方法。世界卫生组织（World Health Organization, WHO）明确指出，在资源匮乏的医疗环境中亟需一款便携、可开展即时检测（point-of-care）、可靠且经济实惠的CD4计数平台。 方法 本研究使用自研的便携无标记微芯片CD4计数平台（label-free microchip CD4 count platform），对HIV感染者的血液样本开展即时检测。共收集130份HIV感染者剩余血液样本：其中16份为布里格姆妇女医院（Brigham and Women's Hospital, BWH）提供的去标识化剩余血液样本，另外114份来自坦桑尼亚达累斯萨拉姆市HIV/AIDS诊疗中心纳入的穆希比利卫生与联合科学大学（Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, MUHAS）的剩余样本。将上述BWH与MUHAS的两组数据，与临床公认的CD4计数参考方法FACSCalibur系统进行分析比对。 结果 本实验室（BWH）自研的便携、电池供电且无需显微镜的微芯片平台，与FACSCalibur系统的CD4计数结果在BWH队列中呈显著相关性（r=0.94，P值[原文未完整呈现]）。结论 本研究通过一款便携平台获取HIV感染者的CD4计数结果，该平台具备低成本（[原文未完整表述]）