Ureaplasma/Mycoplasma hominis Culture

The Ureaplasma/Mycoplasma hominis Culture is used to help confirm Ureaplasma urealyticum infection in patients with suspected urethritis or cervicitis and to support etiologic assessment of nongonococcal urethritis in conjunction with clinical findings and other tests. When clinically appropriate, it may also document asymptomatic colonization to inform management decisions. Common terminology for this assay includes Ureaplasma culture and Mycoplasma hominis genital culture, reflecting its focus on recovery of genital mycoplasmas by selective culture.

Ureaplasma urealyticum and Ureaplasma parvum are genital mycoplasmas. Colonization occurs frequently in sexually active women and less often in men, with transmission via sexual contact and perinatally. These organisms have been linked to nongonococcal urethritis; however, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, Trichomonas vaginalis, and Mycoplasma genitalium can produce clinically indistinguishable syndromes, and signs and symptoms do not reliably identify the pathogen. Culture may be negative despite true infection, and detection of Ureaplasma or Mycoplasma hominis does not necessarily imply disease. Results require correlation with clinical context and other laboratory evidence. Proposed associations with adverse pregnancy outcomes have been described but remain unproven.