Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-01T08:29:47.126Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Prevalence and significance of Mycoplasma hominis and Ureaplasma urealyticum in the urines of a non-venereal disease population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2009

Patricia M. Furr
Affiliation:
Division of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, MRC Clinical Research Centre, Watford Road, Harrow, Middlesex, HA1 3UJ
D. Taylor-Robinson
Affiliation:
Division of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, MRC Clinical Research Centre, Watford Road, Harrow, Middlesex, HA1 3UJ
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Ureaplasma urealyticum organisms (ureaplasmas) and Mycoplasma hominis organisms (mycoplasmas) were sought in mid-stream urines collected from 200 men and 200 women attending hospital with conditions of a non-venereal nature. In addition, the urines from 100 male and 100 female healthy volunteers were examined. Overall, ureaplasmas were isolated four times more often than mycoplasmas. In individuals less than 50 years of age, the organisms were found in about 20 % of men and about 40 % of women. In individuals 50 years or older, they were found about one-third to one-half as frequently. Centrifugation of urine and examination of the resuspended deposit did not increase the isolation rates. In men, the numbers of organisms in the urine were usually small (< 103 c.c.u./ml) with less than tenfold more in the urine of women. The occurrence of 51– > 1000 leucocytes per mm3 in some of the urines was not associated with either the presence or an increased number of ureaplasmas/mycoplasmas, whereas they were associated with the presence of 105 or more bacteria/ml. The significance of these findings in the context of defining the role of ureaplasmas/mycoplasmas in genital-tract disease is discussed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1987

References

REFERENCES

Clyde, W. A. (1964) Mycoplasma species identification based upon growth inhibition by specific antisera. Journal of Immunology 92,958965.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holmes, M. J., Furr, P. M. & Taylor-Robinson, D. (1974). The persistence of mycoplasmas in the urogenital tract of men in the Antarctic. Journal of Hygiene 72, 355363.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Macleod, A. D., Furr, P. M. & Taylor-Robinson, D. (1976). Prolonged eradication of urogenital mycoplasmas after administration of tetracycline to men in the Antarctic. British Journal of Venereal Diseases 52, 337340.Google Scholar
Manchee, R. J. & a(1968). Haemadsorption and haemagglutination by mycoplasmas. Journal of General Microbiology 50, 465478.Google Scholar
Ross, J. M., Furr, P. M., Taylor-Robinson, D., Altman, D. G. &Coid, C. R. (1981). The effect of genital mycoplasmas on human fetal growth. British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 88, 749755.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Taylor-Robinson, D. (1985). Mycoplasmal and mixed infections of the human male urogenital tract and their possible complications. In The Mycoplasmas, vol. 4 (ed. Razin, S. and Barile, M. F.), pp. 2763. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Taylor-Robinson, D. (1986). The male reservoir of Ureaplasma urealyticum. Paediatric Infectious Diseases 5, 234235.Google Scholar
Taylor-Robinson, D. & Furr, P. M. (1973). The distribution of T-mycoplasmas within and among various animal species. New York Academy of Sciences 225, 108117.Google Scholar
Taylor-Robinson, D. & McCormack, W. M. (1980). The genital mycoplasmas. New England Journal of Medicine 302, 10031010, 1063–1067.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Taylor-Robinson, D. & Munday, P. E.(1987). Mycoplasmal infection of the female genital tract and its complicatons. In Genital Tract Infection in Women (ed. Hare, M. J.). Edinburgh: Churchill-Livingstone. (In the press.)Google Scholar
Taylor-Robinson, D., Martin-Bourgon, C., Watanabe, T. & Addey, J. P. (1971). Isolation of T-mycoplasmas from dogs and squirrel monkeys: biological and serological comparison with those isolated from man and cattle. Journal of General Microbiology 68, 97107.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed