Human Immunodeficiency Virus HIV Whole Blood

HIV Whole Blood for Virology and Infectious Disease Immunology Research

Sanguine collects fresh whole blood from IRB-consented donors with clinically confirmed HIV infection, screened and handled under strict biosafety protocols, for virology, immunology, and infectious disease research. Custom anticoagulants and tube types are available, and samples are collected and shipped same-day.

Why Whole Blood for HIV Research

HIV-1 is a retroviral infection, and the biology of interest is the interaction between the virus and a host immune response — not autoimmunity. Whole blood is the only blood specimen that preserves every leukocyte compartment together with the plasma the virus circulates in, which matters because HIV pathology is distributed across cell types that density-gradient isolation removes or distorts.

• Target cell biology intact — HIV-1 enters CD4+ T cells via CD4 with CCR5 or CXCR4 co-receptors; whole blood preserves the target population in its native proportion alongside the cells it interacts with
• Absolute counts, not just frequencies — CD4 count and the CD4:CD8 ratio are the central clinical immunology readouts in HIV and require whole blood, since PBMC preparation destroys absolute quantification
• Compartments lost in PBMC preparation — granulocytes, and the erythrocyte and platelet fractions, are retained in whole blood and are relevant to chronic immune activation and inflammation in treated infection
• Chronic immune activation and exhaustion — persistent inflammation and inhibitory receptor expression on T cells persist even under suppressive therapy, and are read out across monocyte, NK, and T cell compartments simultaneously
• Latent reservoir work needs cells at scale — the integrated provirus persists in resting memory CD4+ T cells at low frequency, so reservoir quantification and cure-directed assays depend on high input cell numbers from unfractionated blood
• Paired viral and cellular readouts from one draw — plasma viral RNA and host cellular phenotype can be measured on the same specimen without cross-collection variability

Donor Stratification Available

• Treatment status — antiretroviral-naive, on ART with virological suppression, or viraemic despite therapy
• Viral load and CD4 count — current values and nadir CD4 where recorded
• CD4:CD8 ratio — where available, as a marker of residual immune dysregulation
• Disease and treatment duration — time since diagnosis and time on current regimen; long-term non-progressors where identified
• Co-infection status — hepatitis B, hepatitis C, or other concurrent infection where documented
• Matched healthy controls available — demographically matched seronegative donors

Product Features

• Fresh whole blood from clinically diagnosed HIV-positive donors
• Custom anticoagulants and collection tubes available
• Same-day collection and shipment under biosafety protocol
• Standard and custom volumes
• Research Use Only (RUO)

De-identified Donor Data

• Physician-confirmed HIV diagnosis, viral load, and ART status where available
• Demographics: age, sex assigned at birth, ethnicity
• Relevant medical, treatment, and co-infection history
• Additional clinical values reported per lot or available on request

Applications

• Viral load quantification and latent reservoir characterisation
• Immunophenotyping of CD4 and CD8 T cell populations with absolute counts
• T cell exhaustion and chronic immune activation profiling
• Innate compartment analysis across monocytes, NK cells, and granulocytes
• Gene expression, transcriptomic, and host restriction factor studies
• Antiretroviral drug response and resistance research
• HIV-specific T cell and broadly neutralising antibody research
• Assay development and validation for infectious disease diagnostics

Other HIV Specimen Types

Matched material from the same HIV donor pool is available as HIV serum, plasma, PBMC, and leukopak. Isolated subsets are available as HIV CD4+ T cells and CD8+ T cells.

Compliance and Quality Assurance

• IRB-approved protocols and electronic informed consent
• HIPAA-compliant donor data handling and biosafety-compliant shipping
• 21 CFR Part 11-compliant e-signatures with documentation support for regulatory review

Ordering & Customization

HIV whole blood is available in standard and custom volumes. For pricing, international orders, or documentation requirements, email learnmore@sanguinebio.com. To browse the full specimen range and healthy-donor controls, see our human whole blood collection.