🚀 go-pugleaf

Hello out there!
Here comes a bad suspicion, reported by a good friend (albeit a 
pharmaceutical layman):
The medicine called "ROACCUTAN" has presumable triggered false positive 
HIV-tests in at least one case.

Here the intire story:
9 weeks after a "ROACCUTAN"-therapy he donated blood on 30.10.1992 at the 
german Red Cross. All 17 former donations were not queried. But this donation
was tested positive (HIV I unspecific p55, p24).
The test was classified as false positive but in need of control. Further
test were low positive in Western-Blood:

01.12.1992: Elisa: at limit
            Western-Blood I: GP41, P18, P34 (low) positive
            remark of a virologist: "surely not a HIV-typical result"
            Western-Blood II: negative
22.02.1993: Elisa: positive
            Western-Blood I: P18 (low), P24/25, P40 (low), P55
            (low) positive
            remark of a virologist:  "for a HIV-diagnosis at least 1 
            largemolecular antibody (gp 68/120/160) is missing"
            Western-Blood II: negative
07.06.1993: Elisa: at limit
            Western-Blood I: P24/25 positive
            Western-Blood II: negative
27.08.1993: Elisa: at limit
            Western-Blood I: P24/25 positive
            Western-Blood II: negative
24.02.1994: Elisa: negative
            Western-Blood I + II were not tested
04.04.1995: Elisa: negative
            Western-Blood I : P24/25 positive
            Western-Blood II: negative

Finally assessment of the virologist:
"The patient has still a reactive p24 antibody, but it has but nothing to do 
with a HIV-infection. If this long-lasting antibody can be put down to the 
fact of an acne-therapy, bacterial side effect or anonther (non HIV-) virus-
infection is in my view difficult to clarify. Wait for the examinations of
the german federal health department (BGA)."

Despite intensive case history there wasn't the smallest indication of a 
HIV-endangering by an affiliation to a risc-group or an infected sex partner.
The patient also got no pints of stored blood or blood transfusion.
The one and only medicine he got was dermatological side "ROACCUTAN" as a
therapy against acne. In several dialogues in 1993/94 with the dermatology 
hospital Muenster and the pharmacological institut Muenster this question 
was brought up:
Is `Isotretinoin` (the active substance of "ROACCUTAN", an acid derived of 
vitamin A and alcohol) able by forming or influencing of paraproteins,
causing false positive HIV-tests?
An announcement to the manufacturing firm "Hoffmann-La Roche" (Germany), 
Medical Tribune and the BGA were prepared.
As a result of this, in March 1994 the BGA issued a medical fast
information (ASI). La Roche dismissed any correlations.
Therefore here our questions:

1) Who has made similar experiences? / Whom of you know about the same
   reactions after a ROACCUTAN-therapy?

2) How do you think about the correlations between ROACCUTAN and false
   positive HIV-tests? / Is `Isotretinoin` able to cause false positive 
   HIV-tests?
Please ask also your professional colleagues, .....

Reports and informations to me (E-Mail: jagust@uni-muenster.de) or here.



                                         Thanks, 
                                         Joerg Augustin