Clinical laboratory assessments of CSF WBC and CD4+ T-lymphocyte count were performed at each participating site. Plasma and CSF HIV-1 RNA was quantified using RT-PCR (Amplicor® version 1.5, Roche Diagnostic Systems) with a lower limit of quantification of 50 copies/ml.
For CSF biomarker analysis, we used cell-free specimens of CSF stored at -80°C and not thawed until analysis. CSF NFL was measured using a sandwich ELISA method with a lower limit of quantification of 50 ng/l (NF-light® ELISA kit, UmanDiagnostics AB, Umeå, Sweden) at the Clinical Neurochemistry Laboratory at the University of Gothenburg according to the manufacturers description. CSF NFL concentrations have previously been shown to increase with normal ageing in healthy individuals [12 (link)]. The upper normal reference limits of CSF NFL previously established using CSF samples from 108 neurologically healthy control individuals were <380 ng/l (18–29 years), <560 (30–39 years), <890 (40–59 years), <1850 (>59 years). CSF neopterin was analyzed using a commercially available immunoassay (BRAHMS, Berlin, Germany), with an upper normal reference value of 5.8 nmol/l [22 (link)].
For CSF biomarker analysis, we used cell-free specimens of CSF stored at -80°C and not thawed until analysis. CSF NFL was measured using a sandwich ELISA method with a lower limit of quantification of 50 ng/l (NF-light® ELISA kit, UmanDiagnostics AB, Umeå, Sweden) at the Clinical Neurochemistry Laboratory at the University of Gothenburg according to the manufacturers description. CSF NFL concentrations have previously been shown to increase with normal ageing in healthy individuals [12 (link)]. The upper normal reference limits of CSF NFL previously established using CSF samples from 108 neurologically healthy control individuals were <380 ng/l (18–29 years), <560 (30–39 years), <890 (40–59 years), <1850 (>59 years). CSF neopterin was analyzed using a commercially available immunoassay (BRAHMS, Berlin, Germany), with an upper normal reference value of 5.8 nmol/l [22 (link)].
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