Occurrence of Ureaplasma urealyticum and Mycoplasma hominis in the male urogenital tract
Article published in Urologia Polska 2003/56/4.

authors

Małgorzata Biernat-Sudolska ¹, Małgorzata Koprynia ¹, Jerzy Szczurek ², Zbigniew Liber ³

¹ Zakład Wirusologii, Katedra Mikrobiologii Collegium Medicum Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego w Krakowie
Kierownik katedry: prof. dr hab. Piotr Bogumił Heczko
² Wojewódzka Poradnia Skórno-Wenerologiczna w Krakowie
Kierownik poradni: dr Jerzy Szczurek

keywords

urogenital tract, mycoplasma, ureaplasma

summary

The purpose of the present study was to estimate the frequencies of Ureaplasma urealyticum (U.urealyticum) and Mycoplasma hominis (M.hominis) occurrence in genitourinary tract of men.

In order to evaluate of the frequencies of these microorganisms occurrence in sexual partners, 1230 patients suffering from inflammations, infertility, or sperm abnormalities were examined together with 137 married couples undergoing treatment for infertility.

The presence of ureaplasms and M.hominis in genitourinary tract was confirmed by cultivation and observation of characteristic colonies on solid media and biochemical features in liquid media.

Particularly high frequencies of ureaplasmas occurrence (38%) were found in men cured for infertility who also exhibited abnormal morphology and number of sperm cells and in men who had abnormal sperm solely (36%).

These microorganisms were isolated significantly more often from the patients who were diagnosed with abnormal semen than from the cases of inflammations, infertility, or when sexual contacts with infected partners were reported.

M.hominis occurrence was lower than that of ureaplasmas but its percentage was also highest in infertile men.

Ureaplasmas and mycoplasmas were found to be significantly more frequent among patients aged 21-30 years (28% and 20%, respectively) in comparison with the group of men under 20 (20% and 0%, respectively).

In 63% of examined infertile couples ureaplasmas and/or mycoplasmas were found in one or both spouses.

The results obtained indicate that routine examining for the presence of ureaplasmas is highly advisable for all men treated for infertility who also exhibit abnormalities in the morphology and number of sperm cells. High frequency of ureaplasm isolations from infertile men may indicate that these microbial agents play a role in the etiology of infertility. Sexual partners of the infected patients should be examined routinely because these microorganisms can be transmitted sexually very easily. In the cases of positive results of cultivation, it is advisable to treat the spouses parallelly.