Diagnosis and Biology of Ureaplasma urealyticum

Chang, Myung Woong

Abstract

Ureaplasma urealyticum(U.urealyticum) was first isolated from the genitourinary tract of human with and without nongonococcal urethritis in 1954 by Shepard MC(64). U.urealyticum was formerly known by such trival names as tiny-PPLO, T-strain mycoplasma, T-strains and T-mycoplasmas. This organism is the smallest reproductive unit has a size of approximately 100-650nm in diameter and is highly pleomorphic structure because of the lack a rigid cell wall and instead is bounded by a triple layered unit membrane. This organism can produce in cell free artificial agar media, the center of the whole colony is characteristically embadded beneath the surface of media, so called inverted fried egg form. This organism is completely resistant to penicillin and lincomycin but it is sensitive to trtracycline or erythromycin, and the growth of this orgnism is inhibited by their specific antibody(72). The ureaplasmas are unique species among the mollicutes with to their ability to hydrolyze urea by means of energy source with the production of ammonia and carbon dioxide. Ureaplasma obtain 15 kcal of energy from hydrolyzation of urea. (NH2)2CO + H2O --- CO2 + 2NH3 + 15 kcal (91). This organism require sterols for growth but it does not utilize glucose and arginine (72). U. urealyticum can produce several toxic substances such as ammonia, neuraminidase like substances, phospholipase A, A2, and C. They have been shown to be toxic for cell and tissue, both in vitro and in vivo (20,26). Subsequently, studies were carrxed out on the occurrence of this microbe in the urogenital tract various subjects to provide the basis for pathogenicity of the organisms (38,41,44,47,53,71). Many investigators have claimed that U. urealyticum is involved in non-gonococcal urethritis (38,47,64,66,71), reproductive failure(40,41,77), premature birth or low birth weight(9), tubo-ovarian abscess(10), Amnionitis(11,12), Infertility(14,22,28,92,93,94), puerperal sepsis(73), nonspecific prostatitis(90), chronic CNS infection(89), chronic respiratory diseases or pneumonia(13,62), septic arthritis(4) and chromosomal aberration(42) but some investigators do not agree with this view. U. urealyticum of human origin are detected and reliably identified in primary and secondary cultures of clinical specimens by the demonstration of ureaplasma urease activity with the urease color test broth and direct urease test for urease in colonies of ureaplasma growing out on standard agar media(67,68). Serological tests have provided rapid and reliable procedures for the identification of this organism under a variety of conditions. These tests are included growth inhibition, metabolic inhibition, indirect hemagglutination, immunofluorescence, indirect immunoperoxidase, and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay test(2,44,54,61,79).

Diagnosis and Biology of Ureaplasma urealyticum

Abstract

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