Microbiological and serological study of nongonococcal urethritis with special reference to Mycoplasma genitalium

Abstract

Twenty two men with non-goncoccal urethritis (NGU), 19 with gonorrhoea, and 22 without urethritis were examined for various micro-organisms. Chlamydia trachomatis was isolated from the urethra of 45% of men with NGU, 21%o of those with gonorrhoea, but from none without urethritis. Ureaplasma urealyticum but not Mycoplasma hominis was recovered from a larger proportion of men with NGU than from those in the other groups. Mgenitalium was isolated presumptively from 32% of men with NGU, 12% of those with gonorrhoea, from 10% of men without urethritis, and from 42% of the men with NGU from whom chlamydiae were not isolated. U urealyticum, Mhominis, and Mgenitalium were sought also in the rectum of men in the three groups. The first two micro-organisms were confined almost exclusively to homosexual men, whereas Mgenitalium was apparently not restricted in this way and was found particularly in this site in men with NGU. The latter mycoplasma may be a resident primarily of the intestinal tract. A fourfold or greater rise in the titre of antibody to C trachomatis was detected in about 20070 of the patients with NGU, but not in other men. A similar rise in the titre of antibody to Mgenitalium was seen in 29% of the patients with NGU and in 12% of those without urethritis. A concomitant antibody response to Mpneumoniae, which is antigenically related to Mgenitalium, was seen in one patient only. The responses to Mgenitalium suggest infection by this mycoplasma and indicate the need for further serological studies.