Comparison of PCR and Culture Methods to Determine Mycoplasma hominis in Women`s Endocervical Samples Referred to Infertility Hospital of Hamadan

Background: Mycoplasma hominis colonizes in the female genital tracts and can cause some genital disorders such as vaginitis, infertility, abortion, preterm delivery and other diseases related to genital tracts. Microscopy is of no diagnostic value, Mycoplasmas stain and culture poorly because they have no cell wall.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare PCR and culture methods to determine Mycoplasma hominis in the women`s endocervical samples who were referred to infertility hospital of Hamadan (west of Iran).

Methods: 234 women who had at least one of the genital disorders symptoms such as vaginitis, infertility, abortion, preterm delivery were included in study. The endocervical samples were taken, using the sterile swab. The samples were cultured in a specific Mycoplama media (PPLO) and were identified by culture results and PCR molecular techniques to detect the 16s rRNA gene. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data.

Results: From 234 samples, 14 isolates (6%) were identified as Mycoplasma hominis by culture methods and 30 isolates (12/7%) were detected by PCR method. The prevalence of Mycoplasma hominis in the studied population was 13.7% in both methods. The genital tracts of 12.3% patients with vaginitis and 10.3% with infertility were colonized by Mycoplasma hominis species. The sensitivity of PCR method was 91.82%, while the sensitivity of culture method was 85.71%.

Conclusion: The prevalence of Mycoplasma hominis in the studied population was significant, so further investigation is necessary. Our results also showed that PCR method was sensitive than culture method to detect Mycoplasma hominis, but agreement coefficient between culture and PCR method was very high (k = 0.5). Although molecular techniques such as PCR to detect these bacteria are sensitive, but the culture method is still used as a golden method in diagnostic microbiology laboratories.