Mycoplasma hominis (M. hominis) and Ureaplasma urealyticum (U. urealyticum) are important opportunistic pathogens that cause urogenital infections and complicate pregnancy. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence, effects on pregnancy outcomes, and antimicrobial susceptibilities of M. hominis and U. urealyticum. We tested vaginal swabs obtained from 1035 pregnant women for the presence of genital mycoplasmas between June 2009 and May 2014. The laboratory and clinical aspects of genital mycoplasmas infection were reviewed retrospectively, and the identification and antimicrobial susceptibility of genital mycoplasmas were determined using the Mycoplasma IST-2 kit. A total of 571 instances of M. hominis and/or U. urealyticum were detected. Of them, M. hominis was detected in two specimens, whereas U. urealyticum was detected in 472 specimens. The remaining 97 specimens were positive for both M. hominis and U. urealyticum. Preterm deliveries were frequently observed in cases of mixed infection of M. hominis and U. urealyticum, and instances of preterm premature rupture of membrane were often found in cases of U. urealyticum. The rates of non-susceptible isolates to erythromycin, empirical agents for pregnant women, showed increasing trends. In conclusion, the prevalence of M. hominis and/or U. urealyticum infections in pregnant women is high, and the resistance rate of antimicrobial agents tends to increase. Therefore, to maintain a safe pregnancy, it is important to identify the isolates and use appropriate empirical antibiotics immediately.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/*pharmacology/therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Middle Aged ; Mycoplasma Infections/drug therapy/*epidemiology ; Mycoplasma hominis/*drug effects/physiology ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious/drug therapy/*epidemiology ; Pregnancy Outcome ; Prevalence ; Retrospective Studies ; Ureaplasma Infections/drug therapy/*epidemiology ; Ureaplasma urealyticum/*drug effects/physiology ; Young Adult

Objective: To explore the effects of Zhibai Dihuang Decoction (ZDD) on mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase (COX) in the spermatogenic cells of rats with ureaplasma urealyticum (UU) infection. METHODS: From forty 4－5 months old SD rats, 30 were randomly selected for the establishment of the model of testicular UU infection by inoculating the bladder with UU suspension and the other 10 injected with normal saline as controls (group A). At 7 days after inoculation, the rat models of testicular UU infection were treated orally with normal saline (group B), ZDD at 1 g per kg of the body weight per day (group C), and azithromycin at 0.105 g per kg of the body weight per day (group D), respectively, once daily for 21 days. Then all the animals were sacrificed and the epididymal and testicular tissues collected for examination of sperm motility with the color sperm dynamic detection system, measurement of the COX activity with the immunohistochemical DAB method, and determination of the mRNA expressions of COXⅠ and COXⅡ by RT-PCR. RESULTS: Compared with group A, group B showed significant decreases in such sperm parameters as grade a sperm (［1.03 ± 0.09］ vs ［0.07 ± 0.03］ %, P<0.01), grade b sperm (［2.07 ± 0.52］ vs ［0.35 ± 0.13］ %, P<0.01), straight line velocity (VSL) (［10.95 ± 0.98］ vs ［6.78 ± 1.05］ μm/s, P<0.01), curvilinear velocity (VCL) (［42.03 ± 1.35］ vs ［38.10 ± 7.65］ μm/s, P>0.05), average path velocity (VAP) (［16.22 ± 1.52］ vs ［10.05 ± 1.80］ μm/s, P<0.01), and the mRNA expressions of COX Ⅰ (［2.25 ± 0.24］ vs ［0.93 ± 0.10］ %, P<0.01) and Ⅱ (［6.72 ± 0.37］ vs ［2.95 ± 0.78］ %, P<0.01). After treatment, all the parameters were remarkably increased in groups C and D (grade a sperm: ［1.11 ± 0.30］ and ［0.60 ± 0.19］%; grade b sperm: ［2.40 ± 0.59］ and ［1.32 ± 0.27］ %; VSL: ［12.11 ± 1.62］ and ［11.47 ± 1.21］ μm/s; VCL: ［54.30 ± 2.35］ and ［45.75 ± 1.64］ μm/s; VAP ［18.40 ± 1.27］ and ［16.69 ± 1.02］ μm/s; expression of COXⅠ mRNA: ［1.86 ± 0.30］ and ［1.74 ± 0.17］ %) as compared with those in group B (P<0.05or P<0.01) except the COX activity and the expression of COX Ⅱ mRNA (P>0.05), and all the parameters were significantly higher in group C than in D (P<0.05or P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS UU infection can reduce grades a and b sperm, linear, curvilinear and mean sperm velocities, and the mRNA expressions of COX Ⅰ and Ⅱ while ZDD can improve these parameters. The improvement of sperm motility may not be associated with the activity of COX, and the COX activity may be related to the mRNA expression of COX II but not that of COXⅠ.
Animals ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; therapeutic use ; Azithromycin ; therapeutic use ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Electron Transport Complex IV ; metabolism ; Epididymis ; drug effects ; enzymology ; Humans ; Male ; Mitochondria ; drug effects ; enzymology ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Sperm Motility ; Spermatozoa ; drug effects ; enzymology ; physiology ; Ureaplasma Infections ; drug therapy ; enzymology ; Ureaplasma urealyticum