Detection of Mycoplasma genitalium from male patients with non-gonococcal urethritis by polymerase chain reaction

Mycoplasma genitalium causes urethritis in non-human primates, but studies on its pathogenicity in man have been hampered by the difficulty in isolating this oragnism in culture. We have used a specific polymerase chain reaction to examine the role of M. genitalium in non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU). Oligonucleotide primers were used to amplify a 281 bp of 140-KDa adhesin gene of M. genitalium. A characteristic PCR product was amplified, when M. genitalium DNA was template for the PCR. No amplified product was detected in Mycoplasma pneumoniae DNA, Mycoplasma hominis DNA or other bacterial DNAs. M. genitalium DNA was detected in urethral swabs from 17 (14.9%) of 114 men with NGU. Three (9.1%) of the 33 men with Chlamydia-positive NGU and 14 (17.3%) of the 81 with Chlamydia-negative NGU were positive for M. genitalium DNA, but 29 men without urethritis were negative. The prevalence of M. genitalium in NGU and in Chlamydia-negative NGU was significantly higher than that in the normal control. These findings suggest that M. genitalium would be a cause of NGU.