Characteristic male urine microbiomes associate with asymptomatic sexually transmitted infection.

David E Nelson,J Dennis Fortenberry,Barbara Van Der Pol,Lixia Diao,Kashi V Revanna,George M Weinstock,Erica Sodergren,Baochang Fan,Qunfeng Dong,Shraddha Easwaran,Raphael H Valdivia

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0014116

David E Nelson, J Dennis Fortenberry + Show 9 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0014116

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Abstract

BackgroundThe microbiome of the male urogenital tract is poorly described but it has been suggested that bacterial colonization of the male urethra might impact risk of sexually transmitted infection (STI). Previous cultivation-dependent studies showed that a variety of non-pathogenic bacteria colonize the urethra but did not thoroughly characterize these microbiomes or establish links between the compositions of urethral microbiomes and STI.Methodology/FindingsHere, we used 16S rRNA PCR and sequencing to identify bacteria in urine specimens collected from men who lacked symptoms of urethral inflammation but who differed in status for STI. All of the urine samples contained multiple bacterial genera and many contained taxa that colonize the human vagina. Uncultivated bacteria associated with female genital tract pathology were abundant in specimens from men who had STI.ConclusionsUrine microbiomes from men with STI were dominated by fastidious, anaerobic and uncultivated bacteria. The same taxa were rare in STI negative individuals. Our findings suggest that the composition of male urine microbiomes is related to STI.

Highlights

Sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA alleles from the human skin, mouth, gastrointestinal tract and vagina has revealed that each of these sites supports surprisingly diverse microbial communities, including substantial numbers of uncharacterized and uncultivated species [1,2]
The same taxa were rare in sexually transmitted infection (STI) negative individuals
Our findings suggest that the composition of male urine microbiomes is related to STI

Summary

Introduction

Sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA alleles from the human skin, mouth, gastrointestinal tract and vagina has revealed that each of these sites supports surprisingly diverse microbial communities, including substantial numbers of uncharacterized and uncultivated species [1,2]. These microbial communities are believed to play a key role in maintaining health, and altered microbiomes are associated with a variety of conditions including obesity [3,4], inflammatory bowel disease [5,6], Crohn’s disease [6] and bacterial vaginosis (BV) [7,8,9,10].

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