PCR methods in clinical investigations of human ureaplasmas: a minireview

Human ureaplasmas are small, cell-wall-deficient organisms that are implicated in many human infections. Due to their small size and fastidious growth requirements, ureaplasmal infections are hard to diagnose clinically, and ureaplasmal disease is difficult to study in clinical samples. Standard culture methods for ureaplasmas are technically challenging, and 3 to 5 days are required to identify this pathogen. PCR methods have been increasingly used in the diagnosis of these infections and in the study of this pathogen in human specimens from multiple sites. These methods have theoretical advantages over traditional culture methods. Organism identification can occur in the presence of low numbers of bacteria, and viability is not necessary. Rapid identification of organisms within 24 h is also possible. In addition, subtyping of isolates can be performed faster with PCR methods than with culture methods. The use of PCR methods in translational research in multiple human ureaplasmal diseases will be reviewed in this paper, and their usefulness will be compared to culture methods. (C) 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.