title: Corynebacterium glucuronolyticum causing genitourinary tract infection: Case report and review of the literature.
abstract: Corynebacterium species are increasingly recognized as opportunistic pathogens. A growing number of taxonomic studies has yielded a description of numerous new Corynebacterium species, such as those related to the urogenital tract, with Corynebacterium glucuronolyticum found to be rarely involved in genitourinary tract infections, particularly in male individuals. In this report, we describe a urethritis case caused by C. glucuronolyticum in a 37-year-old, apparently healthy male, who complained mild pain in the lower abdomen, with several urinary symptoms. While urethral and semen specimens did not yield positive results for microbiological evaluation, cultures of urine samples revealed the monomicrobial growth on blood-containing media of tiny colonies after 24 h of incubation, clearly evident only after 48 h of incubation under CO2-enriched atmosphere. Colonies were identified as C. glucuronolyticum both by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Oral ciprofloxacin gradually led to clinical improvement and, finally, to a complete recovery, in accordance with microbiological findings. In spite of its infrequent detection, C. glucuronolyticum might be a potential urogenital pathogen in males more commonly that what believed, perhaps due to slow growth leading to underrecognition; we suggest therefore to consider the organism in the differential diagnostics of bacterial diseases of the urinary tract.
authors.affiliation: Integrated Research Centre (CIR), University Campus Biomedico, Via Alvaro del Portillo 200, 00128 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gherardi
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Oral and Biotechnological Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Via Vestini 31, 66100 Chieti, Italy; Center of Excellence on Aging, "G. d'Annunzio" University Foundation, Via Luigi Polacchi 11, 66100 Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Di Bonaventura
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Oral and Biotechnological Sciences, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Via Vestini 31, 66100 Chieti, Italy; Center of Excellence on Aging, "G. d'Annunzio" University Foundation, Via Luigi Polacchi 11, 66100 Chieti, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pompilio
authors.affiliation: Clinical Microbiology and Virology, Spirito Santo Hospital, Via Fonte Romana 8, 65124 Pescara, Italy.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Savini
keywords: Corynebacterium glucuronolyticum; Genitourinary tract infection