Ureaplasma urealyticum, Ureaplasma parvum, Mycoplasma hominis and Mycoplasma genitalium infections and semen quality of infertile men

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Genital ureaplasmas (<it>Ureaplasma urealyticum </it>and <it>Ureaplasma parvum</it>) and mycoplasmas (<it>Mycoplasma genitalium </it>and <it>Mycoplasma hominis</it>) are potentially pathogenic species playing an etiologic role in both genital infections and male infertility. Reports are, however, controversial regarding the effects of these microorganisms infections in the sperm seminological variables. This study aimed at determining the frequency of genital ureplasmas and mycoplasmas in semen specimens collected from infertile men, and at comparing the seminological variables of semen from infected and non-infected men with these microorganisms.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 120 semen samples collected from infertile men were investigated. Semen specimens were examined by in-house PCR-microtiter plate hybridization assay for the presence of genital ureaplasmas and mycoplasmas DNA. Semen analysis was assessed according to the guidelines of the World Health Organization. Standard parametric techniques (<it>t</it>-tests) and nonparametric techniques (Wilcoxon tests) were used for statistical analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The frequency of genital ureaplasmas and mycoplasmas detected in semen samples of infertile men was respectively 19.2% (23/120) and 15.8% (19/120). The frequency of <it>Ureaplasma urealyticum </it>(15%) was higher than that of <it>Mycoplasma hominis </it>(10.8%), <it>Ureaplasma parvum </it>(4.2%) and <it>Mycoplasma genitalium </it>(5%). Mixed species of mycoplasmas and ureaplasmas were detected in 6.7% of semen samples.</p> <p>Comparison of the parameters of the standard semen analysis between the male partners of the infertile couples with and without genital ureaplasmas and mycoplasmas infection showed that the presence of <it>Mycoplasma hominis </it>DNA in semen samples is associated with low sperm concentration (<it>p </it>= 0.007) and abnormal sperm morphology (<it>p </it>= 0.03) and a negative correlation between sperm concentration and the detection of <it>Mycoplasma genitalium </it>in semen samples of infertile men (<it>p </it>= 0.05). The mean values of seminal volume, pH, vitality, motility and leukocyte count were not significantly related either to the detection of genital mycoplasmas DNA or to the detection of ureaplasmas DNA in semen specimens.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results demonstrate that genital mycoplasmas and ureaplasmas seem to be widespread among the male partners of infertile couples in Tunisia. Genital mycoplasmas infections of the male genital tract could negatively influence semen quality. Our results also indicate that PCR-microtiter plate hybridization assay method provides a rapid and effective technique to detect human genital mycoplasmas and ureaplasmas which is useful for etiological and epidemiological studies of these pathogens.</p

Rickettsia felis Infection, Tunisia

We report, for the first time, serologic evidence of Rickettsia felis and R. aeschlimannii infections acquired in Tunisia from 1998 to 2003. We found that most patients with antibodies against both R. conorii and R. typhi had serologic evidence of R. felis infection

Ureaplasma urealyticum, Ureaplasma parvum, Mycoplasma hominis and Mycoplasma genitalium infections and semen quality of infertile men

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This article has been cited by other articles in PMC. Abstract Backgroun

Systèmes toxines-antitoxines plasmidiques chez Escherichia coli producteurs de bêta-lactamases à spectre élargi

Pour élucider certains facteurs ayant pu favoriser le succès des CTX-M-15, nous avons caractérisé les systèmes TA plasmidiques (pemKI, ccdAB, hok-sok, vagCD, pndAC, parDE, relBE et srn-B) de souches cliniques de 2 collections d Escherichia coli producteurs de BLSE l une tunisienne et l autre française et nous avons montré que dans ces 2 collections, les plasmides IncF hébergeant les CTX-M-15 sont significativement plus riches en système TA (en moyenne plus de 2 systèmes TA) et particulièrement en vagCD, système TA identifié dans un plasmide de virulence de Salmonella. Ce système vagCD était significativement associé aux plasmides IncF hébergés par les souches appartenant au clone mondial O:25 H4 ST131. Nous avons montré aussi que les souches hébergeant les CTX-M-15 de la collection tunisienne sont assez riches en gènes de virulence particulièrement en gènes codant la cytotoxicité (hylA et cnfI) ce qui pourraient contribuer à leur diffusion massive dans nos hôpitaux. D'autre part, nous avons trouvé une forte prévalence des BLSE (30 %) chez les souches d E. coli commensales du tube digestif des volailles d élevage intensif en Tunisie. La quasi-totalité de ces BLSE était plutôt de type CTX-M-1 que CTX-M-15 comme celles isolées chez l homme et hébergées par des plasmides de groupe d incompatibilité IncI1 tous renferment le système TA pndAC et rarement vagCD. Finalement, on a obtenu des simples mutants des systèmes TA (ccdAB, pemK et vagCD) du plasmide CTX-M-15 de la souche clonale O25, ST131 (TN03) en utilisant la technique de mutagenèse dirigée de Datsenko et al mais nous n avons pas trouvé de perte significative des plasmides mutés au cours de la division cellulaireTo better understand the success of CTX-M, and particularly of CTX-M-15, we characterized the plasmid addiction systems (pemKI, ccdAB, hok-sok, vagCD, pndAC, parDE, relBE and srn-BC) in two collections of ESBL-producing Escherichia coli strains, one French and the other Tunisian. We have demonstrated that in both collections the addiction systems, mainly vagCD, were significantly more prevalent in IncF CTX-M-15-carrying plasmids. The vagCD system, which is associated to Salmonella virulence plasmids, was significantly associated to the pandemic ST131 clone. Moreover, the CTX-M-15 producing E. coli isolates of the Tunisian collection had a high frequency of virulence factors particularly hylA and cnfI. On the other hand, we have detected a high prevalence of ESBLs in faecal samples of healthy poultry in Tunisia. The most common type of ESBLs identified was CTX-M-1, harboured by self conjugative IncI1 plasmids which all comprised the pndAC system and rarely vagCD. Finally, deletion mutants of the TA systems ccdAB, pemK and vagCD harboured by the CTX-M-15 plasmid of a French ST131 strain (TN03) were created using the method by Datsenko et al, but we didn t observe a significant loss of mutant plasmids during cell division. Therefore, we plan to construct double or triple system TA mutants so that we could evaluate the role of the association of multiple addiction systems in plasmid stabilizationPARIS-BIUSJ-Biologie recherche (751052107) / SudocSudocFranceF

Endocarditis Due to Kytococcus schroeteri: Case Report and Review of the Literature

We report the third case of endocarditis caused by the newly described micrococcal species Kytococcus schroeteri. A 49-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital with suspected prosthetic valve endocarditis. Five blood cultures and prosthetic valve cultures grew the same type of organism, initially identified as Micrococcus sp. Assignment to the genus Kytococcus was suggested by the arginine dihydrolase activity and resistance to oxacillin. After sequencing of the 16S rRNA genes, the isolate was recognized as K. schroeteri. The patient was treated first with vancomycin combined with gentamicin and later with pristinamycin and rifampin. Three cases of K. schroeteri endocarditis described within a short period of time might indicate a specific pathogenicity of this new species. The isolation of kytococci from normally sterile sites should not be overlooked