AUTHOR=Song Jingjuan , Wu Xuanlan , Kong Yingying , Jin Hong , Yang Ting , Xie Xinyou , Zhang Jun 

TITLE=Prevalence and antibiotics resistance of Ureaplasma species and Mycoplasma hominis in Hangzhou, China, from 2013 to 2019

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.982429

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2022.982429

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Ureaplasma</italic> spp. and <italic>Mycoplasma hominis</italic>, frequent colonizers in the lower urogenital tract, have been implicated in various infections, with antibiotic resistance growing and varying regionally. This study aims to investigate the prevalence and antibiotic resistance profiles of <italic>Ureaplasma</italic> spp. and <italic>M. hominis</italic> in outpatients in Hangzhou, China, from 2013 to 2019. A total of 135,263 outpatients were examined to determine the prevalence of <italic>Ureaplasma</italic> spp. and <italic>M. hominis</italic>, including 48,638 males and 86,625 females. Furthermore, trends in antibiotic susceptibility of <italic>Ureaplasma</italic> spp. and <italic>M. hominis</italic> during 1999–2019 were analyzed. The cultivation, identification, and antibiotic susceptibility of the bacteria (ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, clarithromycin, azithromycin, josamycin, tetracycline, doxycycline, and pristinamycin) were determined using the Mycoplasma IST2 kit. Our study indicated that the overall prevalence of total <italic>Ureaplasma</italic> spp./<italic>M. hominis</italic> was 38.1% from 2013 to 2019. <italic>Ureaplasma</italic> spp. were the most frequently isolated species (overall prevalence, 31.3%), followed by <italic>Ureaplasma</italic> spp./<italic>M. hominis</italic> coinfection (6.0%) and single <italic>M. hominis</italic> infection (0.8%). The prevalence of <italic>Ureaplasma</italic> spp. and <italic>M. hominis</italic> was significantly higher in females than in males, and the highest positive rates of total <italic>Ureaplasma</italic> spp./<italic>M. hominis</italic> were observed in both female and male outpatients aged 14–20 years. During 2013–2019, josamycin, tetracycline, doxycycline, and pristinamycin maintained exceptionally high activity (overall resistance rates, &lt;5%) against both <italic>Ureaplasma</italic> spp. and <italic>M. hominis</italic>, but ofloxacin and ciprofloxacin showed limited activity (overall resistance rates, &gt;70%). During 1999–2019, the rates of resistance to ofloxacin and ciprofloxacin increased against both <italic>Ureaplasma</italic> spp. and <italic>M. hominis</italic> but decreased to erythromycin, clarithromycin, azithromycin, tetracycline, and doxycycline against <italic>Ureaplasma</italic> spp. In conclusion, our study demonstrates a high prevalence of <italic>Ureaplasma</italic> spp. compared to <italic>M. hominis</italic> and <italic>Ureaplasma</italic> spp./<italic>M. hominis</italic>, and their distribution was associated with sex and age. Josamycin, doxycycline, and tetracycline are promising antibiotics that have remarkable activity against <italic>Ureaplasma</italic> species and <italic>M. hominis</italic>.</p>