Ureaplasma
Urogenital ureaplasma infection is a sexually transmitted infection mainly caused by 2 bacteria, Ureaplasma urealyticum (UU) and Ureaplasma parvum (UP), which are usually detected in the lower urinary and genital tract. Ureaplasma species are associated with non-gonococcal urethritis, prostatitis and male infertility. It has been reported that 29.2% of men with non-chlamydial and non-gonococcal urethritis were tested positive for ureaplasma species. Ureaplasma spp. associate with male infertility, UU positive infertile men with lower volume of seminal fluid, lower concentration sperm cell, higher percentage abnormal morphology.
Rectal ureaplasma infection is documented among people who practice anal sex, but they largely remain asymptomatic
Drug Resistance of Ureaplasma
There were considerable differences in levels of resistance to the antibacterial agents for the two bacterial species. However, the MH strains showed generally higher resistance rates than UU ones.
For MH, the highest resistance rates were registered for ciprofloxacin (77.27%), followed by macrolides (azithromycin 38.88%, clarythromycin and erythromycin - 33.33% each) and ofloxacin (27.77%). Lower resistance rates (p=0.028) were registered for tetracycline, josamycin, pristinamycin, and doxycycline, i.e. 16.66%, 11.11%, 11.11%, and 11.11% respectively.
For UU isolates, the ciprofloxacin resistance was also very high (51.72%), while the resistance rates to the other tested antibiotics were significantly lower (p=0.022), i.e. ofloxacin (16.09%), erythromycin (16.09%), clarythromycin (9.19%%), azithromycin (8.05%), tetracycline (5.75%), pristinamycin (3.45%), josamycin (2.30%) and doxycycline (2.30%)
REF:
Waites KB, Katz B, Schelonka RL (2005) Mycoplasmas and ureaplasmas as neonatal pathogens. Clin Microbiol Rev 18:757–789. doi:10.1128/CMR.18.4.757-789.2005)
(REF: Glass JI, Lefkowitz EJ, Glass JS, Heiner CR, Chen EY et al (2000) The complete sequence of the mucosal pathogen Ureaplasma urealyticum. Nature 407:757–762. doi:10.1038/35037619. )
REF: Association of Ureaplasma urealyticum (Biovar 2) With Nongonococcal Urethritis, 2004. https://journals.lww.com/stdjournal/Fulltext/2004/03000/Trends_in_the_Prevalence_of_Pathogens_Causing.11.aspx ).
(REF: The Role of Ureaplasma spp. in the Development of Nongonococcal Urethritis and Infertility among Men. 2019. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31270127/)
(ref: A Case of Rectal Ureaplasma Infection and Implications for Testing in Young Men Who Have Sex with Men: The P18 Cohort Study, 2017. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5374866/#B4 ).
