The Urethral Microbiota of Men with and without Idiopathic Urethritis

Plummer, Erica L; Ratten, Larissa K; Vodstrcil, Lenka A; Murray, Gerald L; Danielewski, Jennifer; Fairley, Christopher K; Garland, Suzanne M.; Chow, Eric P F; Bradshaw, Catriona S

doi:10.1128/mbio.02213-22

Cited by 14 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…Our study is the first of which we are aware to analyze the tissue-level microbiome of the foreskin. Consistent with previous reports using penile swabs (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)48), the bacteria we identified are predominated by taxa commonly colonizing the skin (chiefly Corynebacteria spp) (49,50) in addition to anaerobic bacteria such as Prevotella, Dialister, Murdochiella, Peptoniphilus, and Negativicoccus. These anaerobic species have been associated with increased inflammation and HIV acquisition in uncircumcised men (8) and bacterial vaginosis in women (51).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…While condom use (1,2), pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) (3), and medical penile circumcision (4) are effective at reducing HIV incidence in men, the contribution of the penile microbiome to these mechanisms has not been fully explored. Previous work has shown a predominance of anaerobic species in the microbiota of swabs taken from the coronal sulcus or urethra (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15) and have reported associations between species such as Prevotella and increased mucosal inflammation, HIV target cell density and risk of HIV acquisition (8,16).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bacterial Microbiome and Host Inflammatory Gene Expression in Foreskin Tissue

Maust

Petkov

Herrera

et al. 2022

Preprint

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HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is effective at preventing HIV acquisition, but its impact on the microbiome of the penis has not been described. As part of a randomized clinical trial, we sequenced the bacterial 16S microbiome from foreskin tissue collected during surgical penile circumcision of 144 adolescents in South Africa and Uganda after randomization to placebo, emtricitabine with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, or emtricitabine with tenofovir alafenamide. We found a large proportion of Corynebacterium in addition to other anaerobic species. Cutibacterium acnes was more abundant among participants from South Africa than Uganda, though this made no difference in clinical outcome. We did not find a difference in bacterial populations by treatment received nor bacterial taxa that were differentially abundant between participants who received placebo versus active drug. Using RNAseq libraries from the same participants, we found generally negative correlations between the relative abundance of bacterial taxa and the expression of genes downstream of the innate response to bacteria and regulation of the inflammatory response. We divided participants into two clusters based on community composition, distinguishing high and low diversity bacterial populations. Random forest classification showed higher expression of NFATC3 and SELENOS and lower expression of STAP1 and NLRP6 in the higher diversity group compared to the lower. Our results show no difference in the tissue microbiome of the foreskin in the different PrEP arms versus placebo. The identified bacterial taxa were not correlated with increased inflammatory gene expression and were instead largely inversely correlated with gene expression consistent with non-inflammatory colonization.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bacterial Microbiome and Host Inflammatory Gene Expression in Foreskin Tissue

Maust

Petkov

Herrera

et al. 2022

Preprint

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“…The urethra is the common duct for the evacuation of urine and the transition of semen throughout the penis. Several studies have analysed the bacterial content of the urethra by analysing first void urine samples [ 41 , 42 , 43 ]. Nevertheless, it is still not clear whether the observed taxa were present specifically in the urethra or are part of the bladder microbiota, which has not been fully elucidated yet [ 44 ].…”

Section: Microbiota Of the Mgtmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bacterial colonisation of the urethra has also been studied in the context of idiopathic urethritis [ 43 ]. The results suggested that microbiota is significantly different between controls and men with urethritis and that the sex of the partner also influenced the composition of the microbiota.…”

Section: Microbiota Of the Mgtmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human Male Genital Tract Microbiota

Zuber

Peric²,

Pluchino

et al. 2023

IJMS

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The human body is vastly colonised by microorganisms, whose impact on health is increasingly recognised. The human genital tract hosts a diverse microbiota, and an increasing number of studies on the male genital tract microbiota suggest that bacteria have a role in male infertility and pathological conditions, such as prostate cancer. Nevertheless, this research field remains understudied. The study of bacterial colonisation of the male genital tract is highly impacted by the invasive nature of sampling and the low abundance of the microbiota. Therefore, most studies relied on the analysis of semen microbiota to describe the colonisation of the male genital tract (MGT), which was thought to be sterile. The aim of this narrative review is to present the results of studies that used next-generation sequencing (NGS) to profile the bacterial colonisation patterns of different male genital tract anatomical compartments and critically highlight their findings and their weaknesses. Moreover, we identified potential research axes that may be crucial for our understanding of the male genital tract microbiota and its impact on male infertility and pathophysiology.

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“…Among adolescent men, certain bacterial genera were only detected in urine from sexually active men, suggesting colonization via urethral sexual exposures. 7 Some cross-sectional studies have detected associations between vaginal sex and specific bacteria/taxa or community type 8,9 ; others have not detected associations with sexual exposures. [10][11][12] One cross-sectional study suggested that vaginal sex impacts the urethral microbiota but identified little to no evidence of an association between insertive oral sex (IOS) or insertive anal intercourse (IAI) and the urethral microbiota.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Relationship Between Insertive Oral and Anal Sex and Select Measures of the Composition of the Urethral Microbiota Among Men Who Have Sex With Men

Chambers,

Tapia,

Srinivasan

et al. 2024

Sexual Trans Dis

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Background Sexual behavior may influence the composition of the male urethral microbiota, but this hypothesis has not been tested in longitudinal studies of men who have sex with men (MSM). Methods From 12/2014-7/2018, we enrolled MSM with non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU) attending a sexual health clinic. Men attended five in-clinic visits at 3-week intervals, collected weekly urine specimens at home, and reported daily antibiotics and sexual activity on weekly diaries. We applied broad-range 16S rRNA gene sequencing to urine. We used generalized estimating equations to estimate the association between urethral sexual exposures in the prior 7 days (insertive oral sex [IOS] only, condomless insertive anal intercourse [CIAI] only, IOS with CIAI [IOS + CIAI], or none) and Shannon index, number of species (observed, oral indicator, and rectal indicator), and specific taxa, adjusting for recent antibiotics, age, race/ethnicity, HIV, and pre-exposure prophylaxis. Results Ninety-six of 108 MSM with NGU attended ≥1 follow-up visit. They contributed 1,140 person-weeks of behavioral data and 1,006 urine specimens. Compared to those with no urethral sexual exposures, those with IOS only had higher Shannon index (P = 0.03) but similar number of species and presence of specific taxa considered, adjusting for confounders; the exception was an association with Haemophilus parainfluenzae. CIAI only was not associated with measured aspects of the urethral microbiota. IOS + CIAI was only associated with presence of H. parainfluenzae and Haemophilus. Conclusions Among MSM after NGU, IOS and CIAI did not appear to have a substantial influence on measured aspects of the composition of the urethral microbiota.

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The Urethral Microbiota of Men with and without Idiopathic Urethritis

Cited by 14 publications

References 61 publications

Bacterial Microbiome and Host Inflammatory Gene Expression in Foreskin Tissue

Bacterial Microbiome and Host Inflammatory Gene Expression in Foreskin Tissue

Human Male Genital Tract Microbiota

The Relationship Between Insertive Oral and Anal Sex and Select Measures of the Composition of the Urethral Microbiota Among Men Who Have Sex With Men

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