Diagnosis of Trichomoniasis in Male Patients on Performing Nested Polymerase Chain Reaction

Abstract

Objective: Trichomoniasis is a parasitic infection that occurs with the settlement of Trichomonas vaginalis in female and male urinary and reproductive tracts. This infection is generally asymptomatic in males, and males are thought to be a carrier for the transmission of infection. In this study, our aim was to detect trichomoniasis using nested polymerase chain reaction among males who were referred to a hospital with suspected urinary tract infection. Methods: Urine samples were collected from 138 male patients between 18 and 50 years of age who were referred with suspected urinary system infection to the Urology Outpatient Clinic at Malatya University Medical Center Malatya between December 2013 and May 2014. Direct microscopy, two different culture methods, and nested Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were performed for the investigation of T. vaginalis in urine samples. Results: Urinary tract infection was diagnosed in 47 of the 138 patients according to white and red blood cell counts in the urine samples. T. vaginalis infection was detected in 6.5% (9/138) of the suspected patients by nested PCR, while none of the samples tested positive by direct microscopy and culture examinations. Statistical significance was found between infection of the urinary tract and nested PCR positivity for T. vaginalis. Conclusions: According to our results, nested PCR is the most sensitive method for the detection of trichomoniasis in male patients. We strongly recommend using nested PCR for the differential diagnosis of urinary infections in males.

Advancing Prevention of STIs by Developing Specific Serodiagnostic Targets: Trichomonas vginalis as a Model

“…Although the test meets criteria of being inexpensive, simple, rapid, and highly sensitive and specific, drawbacks of this test are that it is invasive for women, requiring a vaginal swab for obtaining sample, and the POC test fails to detect the specific parasite protein in the urine of male patients. Although there are numerous reports of accurate nucleic acid amplification-based tests [17][18][19], these tests are neither compatible for large scale screening in non-sterile settings nor are suitable for use in community-based clinics and at under-developed countries.…”