Abstract
Female and male infertility have been associated to Chlamydia trachomatis, Ureaplasma spp. and Mycoplasma hominis urogenital infections. However, evidence from large studies assessing their prevalence and putative associations in patients with infertility is still scarce. The study design was a cross-sectional study including 5464 patients with a recent diagnosis of couple’s primary infertility and 404 healthy control individuals from Cordoba, Argentina. Overall, the prevalence of C. trachomatis, Ureaplasma spp. and M. hominis urogenital infection was significantly higher in patients than in control individuals (5.3%, 22.8% and 7.4% vs. 2.0%, 17.8% and 1.7%, respectively). C. trachomatis and M. hominis infections were significantly more prevalent in male patients whereas Ureaplasma spp. and M. hominis infections were more prevalent in female patients. Of clinical importance, C. trachomatis and Ureaplasma spp. infections were significantly higher in patients younger than 25 years. Moreover, Ureaplasma spp. and M. hominis infections were associated to each other in either female or male patients being reciprocal risk factors of their co-infection. Our data revealed that C. trachomatis, Ureaplasma spp. and M. hominis are prevalent uropathogens in patients with couple’s primary infertility. These results highlight the importance of including the screening of urogenital infections in the diagnostic workup of infertility.
Highlights
Urogenital infections are known causes of infertility[1]
When analyzing the prevalence of infections within the patient population, it was found that C. trachomatis, Ureaplasma spp. and M. hominis infections were significantly associated with patient sex and age (Table 2)
Compelling data about the prevalence of urogenital C. trachomatis, Ureaplasma spp. and M. hominis infection and their possible associations in partners of infertile couples is of utmost importance
Summary
Urogenital infections are known causes of infertility[1]. Currently, infertility affects 15–20% of reproductive-aged couples worldwide and women and men contribute to infertility c ases[1,2]. C. trachomatis is a known cause of different urogenital pathologies such as acute urethritis, cervicitis and salpingitis that may lead to severe reproductive complications including pelvic inflammatory disease, chronic pelvic pain, ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage and tubal infertility[6,7]. Ureaplasma spp. and M. hominis may cause different pathologies including acute urethritis, bacterial vaginosis, pelvic inflammatory disease and tubal infertility[15,19,20]. The detection rates of C. trachomatis, Ureaplasma spp. and M. hominis in the urogenital tract form infertile women and men has shown striking variations across regions and countries and in different groups when individuals were classified according to age, ethnicity and socioeconomic status[5,22,23,24]. We analyzed the associations among infections and with demographic parameters such as patient sex and age
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