You are about to graduate as a RN. Your final term project is to prepare a presentation on HIV/AIDS. HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a retrovirus—it is an enveloped single-stranded virus that has duplicate copies of a single-stranded RNA genome. All retroviruses encode reverse transcriptase, an enzyme that uses an RNA genome as a template to make a complementary DNA strand. HIV can infect a variety of human cell types, but the most important are the helper T cells (also called CD4 cells)—the virus infects these cells and causes their death; their numbers slowly decline until the immune system can no longer resist infections or tumor development. You give your presentation to the class and are asked by your professor at the end of the session to answer some questions that your peers have on diagnosing HIV.
-The initial test used to diagnose HIV is the ELISA test. This test is
A) a colorimetric assay that is used to locate enzyme-labeled antibodies bound to antigens, often in a microtiter plate.
B) a piece of equipment that separates and determines the relative concentrations and certain characteristics of fluorescent-antibody-labeled cells.
C) the use of fluorescence microscopy to locate fluorescently labeled antibodies bound to antigens fixed to a microscope slide.
D) a "sandwich method" in which a known antigen is trapped between two radioactively labeled microscope slides for viewing.
E) None of the answer choices is correct.

Question

You are about to graduate as a RN. Your final term project is to prepare a presentation on HIV/AIDS. HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a retrovirus—it is an enveloped single-stranded virus that has duplicate copies of a single-stranded RNA genome. All retroviruses encode reverse transcriptase, an enzyme that uses an RNA genome as a template to make a complementary DNA strand. HIV can infect a variety of human cell types, but the most important are the helper T cells (also called CD4 cells)—the virus infects these cells and causes their death; their numbers slowly decline until the immune system can no longer resist infections or tumor development. You give your presentation to the class and are asked by your professor at the end of the session to answer some questions that your peers have on diagnosing HIV.
-The initial test used to diagnose HIV is the ELISA test. This test is
A) a colorimetric assay that is used to locate enzyme-labeled antibodies bound to antigens, often in a microtiter plate.
B) a piece of equipment that separates and determines the relative concentrations and certain characteristics of fluorescent-antibody-labeled cells.
C) the use of fluorescence microscopy to locate fluorescently labeled antibodies bound to antigens fixed to a microscope slide.
D) a "sandwich method" in which a known antigen is trapped between two radioactively labeled microscope slides for viewing.
E) None of the answer choices is correct.

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The ELISA test stands for Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, and it is a colorimetric assay that uses enzyme-labeled antibodies to detect the presence of HIV antibodies in a patient's blood sample. The test is often conducted in a microtiter plate, and a positive result indicates the presence of HIV antibodies in the patient's bloodstream.

You Are About to Graduate as a RN