<i>Ureaplasma urealyticum</i> and <i>Mycoplasma hominis</i> in Men Attending for Routine Semen Analysis

Abstract

<i>Aim:</i> To investigate the clinical value of the screening of <i>Ureaplasma urealyticum</i> and <i>Mycoplasma hominis</i> in routine semen analysis. <i>Material and Methods:</i> Semen samples of 234 patients with several clinical settings (infertility, varicocele, spontaneous abortion, genital infections, undescended testicles, hemospermia, etc.) were distributed in three study groups: <i>group 1 -</i>- negative cultures; <i>group 2 –</i> normal colonization (≤10<sup>3</sup> colony-forming units (cfu)/ml), and <i>group 3 –</i> pathogenic colonization (>10<sup>3</sup> cfu/ml). Frequency rates, incidence by age and clinical settings, association with abnormal sperm characteristics (density, vitality, motility and morphology) and with the leukocyte count were investigated. <i>Results:</i> Prevalence of <i>U. urealyticum</i> was higher than <i>M. hominis</i> (≤10<sup>3</sup> cfu/ml: 28.2 vs. 24.8%; >10<sup>3</sup> cfu/ml: 20.5 vs. 13.3%). No difference was detected on the incidence of mycoplasmas by age and clinical settings, as well as in regard to the mean values of sperm density, vitality, motility, oval-headed sperm and leukocyte count (p > 0.05). <i>Conclusion:</i> In spite of the high incidence of mycoplasmas, not enough information was available regarding the influence of these microorganisms on the sperm quality and their relationship with the leukocyte count. Therefore, screening of <i>U. urealyticum</i> and <i>M. hominis</i> for routine semen analysis is not clinically relevant.