Process for the cultivation of HIV-2 viruses, cell cultures suitable for this purpose, and diagnostic agents for detecting HIV-2 viruses and process for their production

摘要

The invention relates to a process for obtaining HIV-2 viruses in which a culture of permanent T-lymphocytes or of lymphocytes from cord blood is mixed with serum or lymphocytes of patients infected with HIV-2. This cocultivation is continued under suitable conditions. When cord blood lymphocytes are used, a mixing with permanently growing T-lymphoma cells is carried out after 14 days. After infection of the infectable cells there is an adequate measurable virus concentration in the culture supernatant so that the viruses can be isolated and investigated in a conventional way. Also described is a process for detecting HIV-2 antibodies in samples, in particular blood samples, in which a cell-free sample is subjected to an antigen-antibody reaction with a viral antigen obtained by the abovementioned process, and the extent of this reaction is determined in a conventional way, as well as agents for carrying out this process which contain an appropriate HIV-2 virus preparation as well as reagents for detecting HIV-2 virus/HIV-2 antibody complexes.