Semen culture and the assessment of genitourinary tract infections
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Solomon, Michael
Henkel, Ralf
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The male factor contributes approximately 50% to infertility-related cases in couples with an estimated 12%-35% of these cases attributable to male genital tract infections. Depending on the nature of the infection, testicular sperm production, sperm transport, and sperm function can be compromised. Yet, infections are potentially treatable causes of infertility. Male genital tract infections are increasingly difficult to detect. Moreover, they often remain asymptomatic ("silent") with the result that they are then passed on to the relevant sexual partner leading to fertilization and pregnancy failure as well as illness of the offspring. With the worldwide increasing problem of antibiotic resistance of pathogens, proper diagnosis and therapy of the patient is important. This testing, however, should include not only aerobic microbes but also anaerobic as these can be found in almost all ejaculates with about 71% being potentially pathogenic. Therefore, in cases of any indication of a male genital tract infection, a semen culture should be carried out, particularly in patients with questionable semen quality. Globally, an estimate of 340 million new infections with sexually transmitted pathogens is recorded annually. Among these, the most prevalent pathogens including Chlamydia trachomatis, Ureaplasma urealyticum, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, and Mycoplasma hominis. Escherichia coli are considered the most common nonsexually transmitted urogenital tract microbes. These pathogens cause epididymitis, epididymo-orchitis, or prostatitis and contribute to increased seminal leukocyte concentrations.
Date Issued
2017-07
Date Acceptance
2017-03-10
Citation
Indian Journal of Urology, 2017, 33 (3), pp.188-193
ISSN
0970-1591
Publisher
Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
Start Page
188
End Page
193
Journal / Book Title
Indian Journal of Urology
Volume
33
Issue
3
Copyright Statement
© 2017 Indian Journal of Urology | Published by Wolters Kluwer - Medknow. This is an open access journal, and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28717267
PII: IJU-33-188
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
India
Date Publish Online
2017-06-30