Detection of Cryptic Microorganisms in Patients with Chronic Prostatitis by Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction / 대한비뇨기과학회지

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Chronic prostatitis frequently occurs in men of all ages. Recent studies suggest that fastidious microorganisms may play a role in chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS). The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness and significance of multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the diagnosis of CP/CPPS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: First voided urine (FVU) and/or expressed prostatic secretions (EPS) were collected from 92 patients. Multiplex PCR, using Dual Specificity Oligo (DSO(TM)) primers, was used to test for Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), Mycoplasma genitalium (MG), Mycoplasma hominis (MH), Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG), Trichomonas vaginalis (TV) and Ureaplasma urealyticum (UU). RESULTS: Multiplex PCR can be easily analyzed via visual comparison. Nine (39.1%) of the 23 CP/CPPS IIIa and 12 (17.4%) of the 69 IIIb patients had positive multiplex PCR, with a total of 27 microorganisms isolated, including CT, MH, MG, UU, TV and NG in 9, 7, 4, 4, 2 and 1 case, respectively. Co-infections with 2 or 3 organisms occurred in 5 cases. For the samples collected from 32 patients for both FVU and EPS, 68.7% gave the same results. CONCLUSIONS: Multiplex PCR, using DSO(TM) primers, can be useful for the simple detection of fastidious microorganisms in CP/CPPS. To achieve reliable results with multiplex PCR, feasible guidelines and standardization are of major importance. Further studies will be required to define the usefulness of molecular tests for CP/CPPS in clinical practice.