This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hamasuna, R. Articles by Jensen, J. S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Hamasuna, R. Articles by Jensen, J. S.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, December 2005, p. 4993-4998, Vol. 49, No. 12
0066-4804/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AAC.49.12.4993-4998.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing of Mycoplasma genitalium by TaqMan 5' Nuclease Real-Time PCR

Mycoplasma Laboratory, Statens Serum Institut, DK-2300 Copenhagen S, Denmark,¹ Department of Urology, Miyazaki Medical College, University of Miyazaki, Kiyotake, Miyazaki, Japan²

Received 6 June 2005/ Returned for modification 21 August 2005/ Accepted 27 September 2005

Mycoplasma genitalium is an important pathogen in male nongonococcal urethritis (NGU). Isolation of M. genitalium from clinical specimens by axenic culture is very difficult and time-consuming, and very few strains are available for antibiotic susceptibility testing. Primary isolation of M. genitalium by coculture with Vero cells improves the isolation rate significantly. However, some strains cannot be adapted to axenic culture. In this study, we determined the antibiotic susceptibility of M. genitalium strains grown in Vero cell culture with dilutions of antibiotics. Growth of M. genitalium was monitored by a quantitative PCR assay detecting a single-copy region of the mgpB adhesin gene. Growth inhibition in the presence of antibiotics was expressed as a percentage of the DNA load of controls grown in the absence of antibiotics. Eighteen strains were examined, including 6 new strains isolated from urethral swab specimens and 4 new strains isolated from urine specimens collected from Japanese men. Eight strains adapted to axenic culture were also tested by the conventional broth dilution method. The two methods had an acceptable correlation. Azithromycin was the most active drug against M. genitalium. Among the fluoroquinolones, moxifloxacin had the highest activity, with MICs ranging from 0.03 to 0.5 mg/liter, whereas ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin were considerably less active, with MICs ranging from 0.5 to 16 mg/liter and 0.25 to 4 mg/liter, respectively. MICs for tetracycline ranged from 0.125 to 4 mg/liter. This new method could increase the number of M. genitalium strains available for antibiotic susceptibility testing and significantly shorten the time from sampling to MIC results.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Jernberg, E, Moghaddam, A, Moi, H (2008). Azithromycin and moxifloxacin for microbiological cure of Mycoplasma genitalium infection: an open study. Int J STD AIDS 19: 676-679 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Haggerty, C L, Totten, P A, Astete, S G, Lee, S, Hoferka, S L, Kelsey, S F, Ness, R B (2008). Failure of cefoxitin and doxycycline to eradicate endometrial Mycoplasma genitalium and the consequence for clinical cure of pelvic inflammatory disease. Sex. Transm. Infect. 84: 338-342 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Volokhov, D. V., Kong, H., George, J., Anderson, C., Chizhikov, V. E. (2008). Biological Enrichment of Mycoplasma Agents by Cocultivation with Permissive Cell Cultures. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 5383-5391 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Bjornelius, E, Anagrius, C, Bojs, G, Carlberg, H, Johannisson, G, Johansson, E, Moi, H, Jensen, J S, Lidbrink, P (2008). Antibiotic treatment of symptomatic Mycoplasma genitalium infection in Scandinavia: a controlled clinical trial. Sex. Transm. Infect. 84: 72-76 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Hamasuna, R., Osada, Y., Jensen, J. S. (2007). Isolation of Mycoplasma genitalium from First-Void Urine Specimens by Coculture with Vero Cells. J. Clin. Microbiol. 45: 847-850 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Ross, J D C, Jensen, J S (2006). Mycoplasma genitalium as a sexually transmitted infection: implications for screening, testing, and treatment.. Sex. Transm. Infect. 82: 269-271 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Hjorth, S. V., Bjornelius, E., Lidbrink, P., Falk, L., Dohn, B., Berthelsen, L., Ma, L., Martin, D. H., Jensen, J. S. (2006). Sequence-Based Typing of Mycoplasma genitalium Reveals Sexual Transmission.. J. Clin. Microbiol. 44: 2078-2083 [Abstract] [Full Text]