Distribution and pathogenicity of Ureaplasma urealyticum serotypes in female cervix

Objective To explore the distribution of Ureaplasma urealyticum (UU) serotypes in cervix secretion and examine the relationship between serotype and host age, clinical phenotypes and vaginal Lactobacilli. Methods A total of 444 cervical secretion samples were collected from healthy subjects and 342 cervical secretion samples from females with genital diseases between October and December 2012 at Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine.Biovar-typing was performed by PCR based on multiple-banded antigen (MBA) gene.And serotyping was performed by real-time PCR based on specific nucleotide sequences. Results The positive rate of UU in disease group (62.6%, 214/342) was significantly higher than that in healthy group (44.1%, 196/444, P 0.05). The distribution of serotype 3 in disease and Lactobacilli abnormal group was significantly higher than that in healthy and Lactobacilli normal groups (13.1%(28/214)vs 5.1%(10/196), 12.2%(27/221)vs 5.8%(11/189), both P<0.05) whereas the distribution of serotype 6 in disease and Lactobacilli abnormal groups was significantly lower than that in healthy and Lactobacilli normal groups(14.0%(30/214) vs 30.1%(59/196), 16.3%(36/221) vs 28.0%(53/189), both P<0.05). Conclusions 1, 3, 6, 9 and mixed infection are the main UU serotypes in female cervix.Serotype 3 and mixed infection may be associated with female genital infection. Key words: Ureaplasma urealyticum; Polymerase chain reaction; Cervix uteri; Serotype