title: High rates of double-stranded RNA viruses and Mycoplasma hominis in Trichomonas vaginalis clinical isolates in South Brazil.
abstract: Trichomonas vaginalis is the etiological agent of trichomoniasis, the most common non-viral sexually transmitted disease (STD) in world, with 276.4 million new cases each year. T. vaginalis can be naturally infected with Mycoplasma hominis and Trichomonasvirus species. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of T. vaginalis infected with four distinct T. vaginalis viruses (TVVs) and M. hominis among isolates from patients in Porto Alegre city, South Brazil. An additional goal of this study was to investigate whether there is association between metronidazole resistance and the presence of M. hominis during TVV infection. The RNA expression level of the pyruvate ferredoxin oxidoreductase (PFOR) gene was also evaluated among metronidazole-resistant and metronidazole-sensitive T. vaginalis isolates. A total of 530 urine samples were evaluated, and 5.7% samples were positive for T. vaginalis infection. Among them, 4.51% were isolated from female patients and 1.12% were from male patients. Remarkably, the prevalence rates of M. hominis and TVV-positive T. vaginalis isolates were 56.7% and 90%, respectively. Most of the T. vaginalis isolates were metronidazole-sensitive (86.7%), and only four isolates (13.3%) were resistant. There is no statistically significant association between infection by M. hominis and infection by TVVs. Our results refute the hypothesis that the presence of the M. hominis and TVVs is enough to confer metronidazole resistance to T. vaginalis isolates. Additionally, the role of PFOR RNA expression levels in metronidazole resistance as the main mechanism of resistance to metronidazole could not be established. This study is the first report of the T. vaginalis infection by M. hominis and TVVs in a large collection of isolates from South Brazil.
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Ipiranga 2752, 90610-000 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Débora
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: da Luz Becker
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Ipiranga 2752, 90610-000 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Odelta
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: dos Santos
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Ipiranga 2752, 90610-000 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Amanda Piccoli
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Frasson
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Ipiranga 2752, 90610-000 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Graziela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: de Vargas Rigo
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Ipiranga 2752, 90610-000 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; Centro de Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Bento Gonçalves, 9500, 91501-970 Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: Alexandre José
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Macedo
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Ipiranga 2752, 90610-000 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. Electronic address: tiana.tasca@ufrgs.br.
authors.forename: Tiana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tasca
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001483:Base Sequence; D001938:Brazil; D004351:Drug Resistance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008795:Metronidazole / Q000494:pharmacology; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D058889:Molecular Typing; D019535:Mycoplasma hominis / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012328:RNA Viruses / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014247:Trichomonas Vaginitis / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000652:urine; D014246:Trichomonas vaginalis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000382:microbiology / Q000821:virology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents; D008795:Metronidazole
keywords: Double-stranded RNA viruses; Metronidazole resistance; Mycoplasma hominis; Symbionts; Trichomonas vaginalis