Influence of storage temperature on the stability of HIV-1 RNA and HSV-2 DNA in cervicovaginal secretions collected by vaginal washing

Variability in the handling of samples of genital secretions prior to quantitation of HIV-1 RNA and HSV DNA may profoundly affect both the detection and quantitation of these nucleic acids. Over 144 h, we evaluated, the influence of storage temperature (4 °C, 20 °C, 30 °C) on the quantity of HIV-1 RNA and HSV-2 DNA in HIV and HSV negative cervicovaginal lavage pools spiked with known amounts of HIV-1 and HSV-2 and in HIV-1 and HSV-2 co-infected cervicovaginal lavage pools. The level of viral nucleic acids remained stable at 4 °C for 24 h but decreased significantly when cervicovaginal lavages were stored at 20 °C and 30 °C, demonstrating that, cervicovaginal lavages to be quantified for viral RNA or DNA require, at minimum, immediate storage at 4 °C.