Affinity Hemodialysis for Antiviral Therapy. I. Removal of HIV‐1 from Cell Culture Supernatants, Plasma, and Blood

We tested an affinity hemodialysis technique designed to efficiently remove HIV and toxic viral proteins from blood. Miniature polyethersulfone hollow-fiber dialysis cartridges (200-500 nm pore) were packed with anti-HIV antibodies covalently coupled to agarose beads and sealed inside the cartridge. Cell culture fluids, plasma, or infected blood (7-15 ml) containing HIV-1 were circulated over the cartridge at 0.7-10 ml/min and the rate of removal of HIV measured by PCR and p24 ELISA. The technique removed up to 98% of HIV-1 particles from cell culture supernatants. Affinity hemodialysis also efficiently captured cultured HIV from human blood plasma (90%) and native HIV from infected blood (83% to 100%). Viral capture followed first-order kinetics (t(1/2) = 2.8 h). Variations in antibody type, matrix linkage (protein G versus direct coupling), bead pore size, and temperature of operation (25-37 degrees C) had only small effects. Although some binding was nonspecific, direct binding to the immobilized antibodies appeared to be the predominant mechanism.