title: Serotypes of Ureaplasma urealyticum isolated from patients with nongonococcal urethritis and gonorrhea and from asymptomatic urethral carriers.
abstract: Ureaplasma urealyticum strains isolated from urethral specimens of 112 patients with nongonococcal urethritis, 17 with gonorrhea, and 33 asymptomatic carriers (controls) were tested by the growth-inhibition test with standard ureaplasma antisera (serotypes 1-8). Cases with more than one serotype (two to four types) were encountered in 36.6% of patients with nongonococcal urethritis, 29.4% of those with gonorrhea, and 21.2% of controls. The most frequently recovered serotypes were type 4 from patients with nongonococcal urethritis (57.1%) and type 2 from patients with gonorrhea and controls (35.2% and 36.3%, respectively). The difference in frequency of serotype 4 between patients with nongonococcal urethritis and controls was statistically significant (P less than .001). An additional serotyping with types 9 and 10 antisera of the nontypable strains from patients with nongonococcal urethritis and controls (17.8% and 21.2%, respectively) revealed three type-9 strains. The results show a need for utilization of serotyping of U. urealyticum in studies of the epidemiology and transmissibility of genital infections with U. urealyticum.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006069:Gonorrhea / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D012703:Serotyping; D014509:Ureaplasma / Q000145:classification*; D014521:Urethra / Q000382:microbiology*; D014526:Urethritis / Q000382:microbiology*