Identification and analysis of a putative pathogenicity island Uu146-Uu170 in Ureaplasma urealyticum collected from sterile patients

Abstract

To identify and analyze a putative pathogenicity island (PAI) Uu146-Uu170 of Ureaplasma urealyticum (Uu) and explore the relationship between PAI and infertility. Fifty-one Uu isolates were collected from healthy females, 57 isolates from sterile females with fallopian tube disease, 42 isolates from healthy males and 38 isolates from sterile males. Biovar-typing was performed based on the gene of multiple-banded antigen (MBA). The distribution of PAI was analyzed by PCR. The association of clinical phenotype with biovar type and PAI distribution was calculated by Fisher's exact test. In female healthy group and female disease group, biovar type 1 account for 68.6% (35/51) and 73.7% (42/57), whereas the positive rate of PAI were 15.7% (8/51) and 12.3% (7/57) in the two groups, both difference were not statistically significant. In male healthy group and male disease group, biovar type 1 account for 71.4% (30/42) and 65.8% (25/38), whereas the positive rate of PAI were 21.4% (9/42) and 18.4% (7/38) in the two groups, both difference were not statistically significant. The positive rate of PAI in biovar type 2 was significantly higher than that in biovar type 1 in the fallopian tube disease and male infertility groups (5/15 vs 2/42, 5/13 vs 2/25, both P < 0.05) whereas no significant difference was found between two biovar types in normal groups (both P > 0.05). There is insufficient evidence that Uu with presence of PAI is more pathogenic to cause infertility. The Uu strain of biovar type 2 with PAI Uu146-Uu170 may be associated with infertility.