Patent ID: 6503705
Filing Date: 2003-01-07
Classification: C12Q

Abstract:
A method of evaluating the effectiveness of anti-HIV therapy of an HIV-infected patient comprising:a) collecting statistically significant data useful for determining whether or not a decline in plasma HIV RNA copy numbers exists after initiating treatment of an HIV-infected patient with an antiretroviral agent by: (i) collecting more than one plasma sample from the HIV-infected patient at time intervals sufficient to ascertain the existence of a statistically significant decline in plasma HIV RNA copy numbers; (ii) amplifying the HIV-encoding nucleic acid in the plasma samples using HIV primers via PCR for about 30 cycles; (iii) measuring HIV RNA copy numbers using the products of the PCR of step (ii); (iv) comparing the HIV RNA copy numbers in the plasma samples collected during the treatment; and b) evaluating whether a statistically significant decline in plasma HIV RNA copy numbers exists in evaluating the effectiveness of anti-HIV therapy of a patient.