Rapid molecular detection, prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Ureaplasma urealyticum in genital tract specimens: a study at a district general hospital in China.

BACKGROUND

Ureaplasma urealyticum (U. urealyticum, UU) infection in the genital tract can induce severe complications of adverse pregnancy outcomes and infertility. Therefore, the current study aimed to apply and evaluate a rapid SAT method for detecting U. urealyticum.

METHODS

This study enrolled 2,728 outpatients with genitourinary complaints. The inclusion criteria were: (1) presence of genitourinary symptoms, and (2) no antibiotic therapy within the 72 h preceding sample collection. Firstly, U. urealyticum identified by culture underwent broth microdilution antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Secondly, a total of 305 UU-positive and 301 UU-negative controls were randomly selected for assessing the sensitivity and specificity of the SAT method. Finally, we compared the sensitivity and specificity of the SAT method with those of real-time fluorescence qPCR.

RESULTS

Of the 2,728 samples tested, 1,158 (42.45%) were positive for U. urealyticum by culture assay. The resistance rates against MIN, DOX, JOS, CLA, ROX, AZI, LEV, OFL, and SPA were 1.38%, 2.07%, 5.44%, 12.18%, 17.74%, 17.70%, 16.23%, 27.03%. and 21.59%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the SAT method were 96.39% and 99.00%, respectively. Compared to the real-time fluorescence qPCR, no statistically significant difference was observed in either sensitivity (96.39% vs 96.72%; χ² = 0.0493, p = 0.8243) or specificity (99.00% vs 99.67%; χ² = 0.2517, p = 0.6159).

CONCLUSIONS

Although SAT is not superior to qPCR in sensitivity or specificity, it offers comparable performance, along with rapid detection and potential cost-effectiveness. Therefore, SAT represents a promising diagnostic alternative, particularly for rapid detection of U. urealyticum infection.