title: Concordance of Ureaplasma urealyticum and Mycoplasma hominis in infertile couples: impact on semen parameters.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the relationship between mycoplasma infection and human infertility, we determined the concordance of Ureaplasma urealyticum (UU) and Mycoplasma hominis (MH) detection in infertile and fertile couples, and assessed semen parameters in both groups.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty infertile couples without a female factor attending a fertility clinic and 48 fertile couples were randomly screened for UU and MH. The concordance between partners was compared between the fertile and infertile groups. Semen and endocervical specimens were evaluated using the commercially available Mycofast Evolution2 test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  UU was detected in 24 semen specimens (48%) from the infertile men, in 12 specimens from fertile men (25%), in 20 endocervical specimens from infertile women (40%), and 11 from fertile women (22.9%). UU was detected higher in infertile men than in fertile men (P = .022). The concordance of UU was higher in infertile couples (32%) than in fertile couples (12.5%, P = .022). The concordance of MH between male and female partners in the 2 groups did not differ significantly. The mean values of total motility, progressive motility, normal morphology, vitality, and total motile sperm count were significantly lower in sperm from infertile men than from fertile men. Progressive motility and vitality were significantly lower in UU-positive men than in men without UU, and low total motility and total motile sperm count were significantly related to the presence of MH.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Clinicians should consider the roles of UU and MH in infertility and routinely screen infertile couples for the presence of these mycoplasma species.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Cheil General Hospital, Kwandong University College of Medicine, Jung-gu, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Joong Shik
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Kyung Tae
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hyo Serk
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Kwang Moon
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Ju Tae
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: Jin Ho
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Choe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000382:microbiology; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000382:microbiology*; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D009175:Mycoplasma Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D019535:Mycoplasma hominis; D012661:Semen / Q000382:microbiology; D055101:Semen Analysis; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016869:Ureaplasma Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D016990:Ureaplasma urealyticum