Association of Mycoplasma genitalium with acute non-gonococcal urethritis

Chlamydia trachomatis is known to be a cause of acute non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU), though the aetiology of this disorder is not fully understood. Mycoplasma genitalium has been isolated from a few men with NGU, but culture has remained difficult and reliable detection became possible only with a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	The Lancet (British edition) Vol. 342; no. 8871; p. 582
Main Authors:	Horner, P J, Gilroy, C B, Thomas, B J, Naidoo, R O, Taylor-Robinson, D
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	England 04-09-1993
Subjects:	Acute Disease Adult Chlamydia Infections - complications Chlamydia Infections - ethnology Chlamydia Infections - microbiology Chlamydia trachomatis - isolation & purification Demography Humans Male Middle Aged Mycoplasma - isolation & purification Mycoplasma Infections - complications Mycoplasma Infections - ethnology Mycoplasma Infections - microbiology Polymerase Chain Reaction Prospective Studies Sexual Partners Urethritis - ethnology Urethritis - microbiology
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Summary:	Chlamydia trachomatis is known to be a cause of acute non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU), though the aetiology of this disorder is not fully understood. Mycoplasma genitalium has been isolated from a few men with NGU, but culture has remained difficult and reliable detection became possible only with a specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR). We have used the PCR to examine the role of M genitalium in NGU. M genitalium was detected in urethral samples from 24 (23%) of 103 men with symptoms, signs, or both, of acute NGU, but from only 3 (6%) of 53 men without NGU (p < 0.006). This association was independent of the presence of C trachomatis and could not be explained by differences in age, ethnic, origin, lifetime number of sexual partners or a change in sexual partner during the previous 3 months. The clinical response of the mycoplasma-positive men to doxycycline treatment was at least as satisfactory as that of the chlamydia-positive men. These findings suggest that the association of M genitalium with NGU is likely to be causal, a notion consistent with the known virulence characteristics of this microorganism and its ability to cause urethritis in male sub-human primates.
ISSN:	0140-6736
DOI:	10.1016/0140-6736(93)91411-E