Abstract:

Objective To evaluate the performance of Ureaplasma urealyticum（Uu） and Mycoplasma hominis（Mh） determinations by the combined culturing with solid-liquid media in genitourinary tract infection.Methods A total of 5 hospitals above Grade 2 in Shanghai were enrolled. The results of the combined culturing with solid-liquid media and polymerase chain reaction（PCR） for the determinations of Uu and Mh were compared. Results A total of 183 samples were collected,including 112（61.2%） cases from males and 71（38.8%） cases from females. The positive rates for Uu were 50.8% [93/183,95%confidence interval(CI) 43.3%-58.3%] by combined culturing and 58.5%（107/183,95%CI 51.0%-65.7%） by PCR. The overall coincidence rate was 90.2%（165/183,95%CI 84.9%-94.1%）,and there was statistical significance between the 2 assays（χ²=10.89,P=0.001）. The positive rates for Mh were 31.7%（58/183,95%CI 25.0%-39.0%） by combined culturing and 32.2%（59/183,95%CI25.5%-39.5%） by PCR. The overall coincidence rate was 95.0%（174/183,95%CI 90.9%-97.7%）,and there was no statistical significance between the 2 assays（χ²=0.11,P=0.739）. Of all the samples,18 cases for Uu and 9 cases for Mh had inconsistent results between the 2 assays. However,there was no statistical significance for inconsistent results between males and females（P=0.236）. Of the 18 cases for Uu with inconsistent results,most cases（71.4% males and 100% females） were combined culturing-negative and PCR-positive（P=0.137）. Of the 9 cases for Mh with inconsistent resutls,there was no statistical significance between males and females（P=1.000）.Conclusions The combined culturing with solid-liquid media can improve the positive rate of Mycoplasma,while PCR has high positive rate of Uu. Most cases with inconsistent results are from female samples. The difference of actual time efficiency between the 2 assays is not obvious.

Key words: Mycoplasma, Ureaplasma urealyticum, Mycoplasma hominis, Combined culturing, Polymerase chain reaction, Molecular determination