Development of multiplex real-time quantitative PCR for simultaneous detection of Chlamydia trachomatis, Mycoplasma hominis, Ureaplasma urealyticum, and Mycoplasma genitalium in infertile women

Indian J Med Microbiol. 2022 Apr-Jun;40(2):231-234. doi: 10.1016/j.ijmmb.2022.01.011. Epub 2022 Feb 7.

Abstract

Purpose: Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) can cause sterility and many other problems for women planning pregnancy. Currently, almost 340 million people worldwide suffer from Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs). This study made attempts to quickly identify STDs' most critical infectious agents using dedicated primers and probes.

Methods: The present study was done on the cervical samples of 200 infertile women. After extracting the total DNA of Chlamydia trachomatis, Mycoplasma hominis, Ureaplasma urealyticum, and Mycoplasma genitalium, quantitative methods were employed to determine the rate of target bacteria using multiplex real-time PCR.

Results: The multiplex qPCR showed the rates of 47%, 16%, 46%, and 16.5% for Chlamydia trachomatis, Mycoplasma hominis, Ureaplasma urealyticum, and Mycoplasma genitalium in infertile women, respectively. In some patients, there were co-infections with two or three bacteria. The diagnostic approach used in our research could be employed as an alternative detection tool to identify the four most common STD-associated bacterial agents while detecting mixed infections.

Conclusions: Infertile women with no biological problems could have their genital tract checked using this newly designed identification technique and get proper treatment for their infections as quickly as possible.

Keywords: Infertility; Multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction; Sexually transmitted disease.

MeSH terms

  • Chlamydia trachomatis / genetics
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Infertility, Female* / diagnosis
  • Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction / methods
  • Mycoplasma Infections* / diagnosis
  • Mycoplasma genitalium* / genetics
  • Mycoplasma hominis / genetics
  • Sexually Transmitted Diseases*
  • Ureaplasma / genetics
  • Ureaplasma Infections* / diagnosis
  • Ureaplasma Infections* / microbiology
  • Ureaplasma urealyticum / genetics