Background and Objectives: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) can remain undetected and untreated,therefore, rapid diagnosis and treatment of STIs are important. Mycoplasma genitalium (MG), Mycoplasma hominis (MH), and Ureaplasma urealyticum are sexually transmitted pathogens that cause asymptomatic, organ-specific, and chronic infections, thereby pos-ing a threat to community health. Therefore, we investigated the epidemiological trends of MG and MH infections in South Korea for rapid diagnosis and treatment. Materials and Methods: From September 2018 to December 2020, samples (catheter, pus, tissue, swab, and urine) were collected from outpatients of hospitals in South Korea for molecular biological venereal disease testing. DNA was extracted and analyzed using real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results: Of the 59, 381 samples analyzed, 8. 78% (n=5, 215) were positive for MG and MH. The MH positivity rate (5. 51%, n=3, 273) was higher than the MG positivity rate (3. 27%, n=1, 942). MG and MH positivity rates were the highest in patients aged <19 years. Men had higher MG positivity rate, whereas women had higher MH positivity rates. Furthermore, the MG-positivity rate was the highest in the swab samples of both men and women, whereas that of MH was the highest in the urine samples of men and swab samples of women. Conclusion: We identified the differences between MG and MH positivity rates based on sex, specimen, and age. Our find-ings can provide information for strategies that protect public health and reduce STI incidence and transmission.

Infertility is one of the most important sequela in medical science that microorganisms are among its causes.The possile etiologic role of mycoplasma hominis and ureaplasma urealytictium in infertility has been suggested from years ago, but it has not yet been approved completely.Therefore, this study has been designed to approve this hypothesis and to prevent the infertility.This study was a case control type of investigation done over 125 infertile women without physiological sequela for infertility and a control group included 250 safe and pregnant women. To investigate the presence of ureaplasma urealyticum and mycoplasma hominis, cervical culture was performed in both groups and inoculated one PPLO agar containing Argenin and urea. After recording of results of the study and questionnaires, data was analyzed by K2 and Fisher exact tests. Mean age in case group was 27.9±4.3 years and in control group was 28.6±3.5 years. Positive cervical culture for mycoplasma hominis in case group was 25.6% (32 persons) and in control group 7.2% (18 persons) (P<0.0001).Positive cervical culture for ureaplasma urealyticum in case group was 32.8% (41 persons) and in control group 19.2% (48 persons) (P<0.0018) In comparison this study with similar studies, positive culture ureaplasma urealyticum and mycoplasma hominis in patients of case group were much more in this study and there is a significant relationship between mycoplasma hominis, ureaplasma urealyticum and infertility.Therefore, it is recommended that infertile women without physiological sequela should be examined for contamination with ureaplasma urealyticum and mycoplasma hominis and in case of positive results, by proper treatment the rate of infertility will be reduced.

BACKGROUND: It has been recognized that infectious agents, such as different bacteria and viruses, may play a role in the developing of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Recently, the mycoplasma species has been implicated in the pathogenesis of RA.Aim: The aim of this study was to design a multiplex PCR for rapid and simultaneous detection of Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Mycoplasma hominis, and Mycoplasma arthritidis in the synovial fluid of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).METHODS: A total of 131 synovial fluid (SF) samples from patients with RA were assayed. Mycoplasma pneumoniae (ATCC: 29342), M. hominis (native strain), and the synthetic complete genome of M. arthritidis mitogen (MAM) superantigen were used as controls. All SF samples were subjected to DNA extraction separately and multiplex PCR was performed. The PCR products were confirmed by sequencingRESULTS: The designed multiplex PCR was able to detect M. pneumoniae, M. hominis, and M. arthritidis in the SF of patients with RA with a frequency of 30 (22.9%), 23 (17.5%) and 13 (9.9%), respectively.CONCLUSION: In this study, the overall detection of the Mycoplasma species in RA patients was 53.4%; thus, we recommend the application of multiplex PCR assays when searching for a specific anti mycoplasma treatment for RA patients.

Background: Retrograde of menstrual blood into the peritoneal cavity is one of the accepted theories for initiation of endometriosis although indicated that other factors are involved in pathogenesis. Investigation of infectious agents is important in this regard.Objective: To investigate the presence of bacterial infections; Chlamydia trachomatis and Mycoplasma Hominis as risk factors in endometriosis lesions.Methods: This case-control study was conducted in Sarem Hospital in 2014. DNA was extracted from 90 paraffin-embedded blocks included 40 endometriosis tissue samples, 23 samples of endometrial tissue from the same patients and 27 samples of endometrial tissue of the patients without endometriosis, and molecular analysis were performed using polymerase chain reaction. Results were analyzed by Fisher Exact Test and McNemar Test.Findings: Chlamydia trachomatis infection was seen in 11 (27.5%) endometriosis tissue, 3 (13%) normal tissue from patients and 10 (37%) in patient without endometriosis. Mycoplasma hominis was diagnosed in 11 (27.5%) endometriosis tissue, 7 (30.4%) of normal tissue from patients and one patient without endometriosis (3.7%). These differences show significant relations between infection with Mycoplasma hominis and endometriosis.Conclusion: The findings of this study did not show significant association between Chlamydia trachomatis infections and endometriosis. However; it seems Mycoplasma hominis infection can increase the risk of endometriosis incidence.

Background and Aim: Mycoplasmas are the smallest bacteria capable of independent growth in artificial media. Mycoplasma hominis is associated with pre-mature birth, rupture of amniotic membranes and postdelivery fever. Ureaplasma urealyticum is similarly associated with chorioamnionitis and low-birth weight infants. Both of these bacteria can easily get transferred into newborns during childbirth leading to pneumonia, meningitis, cerebral abscesses and other complications. This study was conducted in order to survey the prevalence of these two microorganisms in women suffering from genital infections.Materials and Methods: The study was descriptive. Endocervical swabs were collected from a total of 205 women with genital tract infections who referred to various hospitals affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences in Tehran. The swabs were placed in PPLO broth transport media and immediately sent to laboratory. Following filtration through 0.45 mm pore-size disposable filters, the filtrates were cultured into Arginine broth and Urea broth. In cases of color change, the broth media were sub-cultured into PPLO agar plates. All media were incubated at 35°C under elevated CO2 atmosphere.Results: From the total of 205 endocervical swabs, 64 samples (31.18%) were positive for Ureaplasma urealyticum and 16 samples (7.76%) were positive for Mycoplasma hominis. The highest prevalence of positive cases was among the 29-39 years of age group (34 patients) and belonged to women diagnosed with vaginitis (36 patients).Conclusion: The results of this survey indicate that the prevalence rate of Mycoplasma hominis and Ureaplasma urealyticum infections among symptomatic Iranian women is in the intermediate range. Due to fact that the prevalence rates of these infections are probably on the rise, more attention needs to be paid to their role as an important etiologic factor of urogenital infections. Its prompt culture in routine clinical laboratories and immediate treatment should be considered as a health care priority.

Background: Mycoplasma genitalium and Mycoplasma hominis are among the major causes of vaginosis, which their detection is difficult in culture media. The aim of this study was to compare two detection methods (PCR and conventional culture media) for the determination of frequency of these bacteria among women with vaginal infection.Material and Methods: For this purpose, we conducted a study for patients with bacterial vaginosis admitted to Imam Zaman and Imam Khomeini Hospitals (n=250) in comparison with healthy women with no vaginal infections (n=150). The extracted DNA was used as template to amplify 16srRNA coding gene using specific primers in two separate PCR reactions. Then the data were analyzed using the logistic regression at the P<0.05 significant level.Results: The results indicated that 38% and 46.8% of Mycoplasma genitalium and Mycoplasma hominis were positive in culture, while this was the case in 68.8% and 77% of samples in PCR, respectively. The results show that the using PCR for molecular identification of bacteria is highly accurate, sensitive and particularly specific, where the culture negative samples were detected by this method.Conclusion: For the detection of Mycoplasma genitalium and hominis among the vaginotic cases PCR is a highly reliable and sensitive method compared to the culture media. Using specific primers, PCR can confidently detect and separate infectious agents even in the genesis and species level.