Ureaplasma parvum vulvovaginal infections

Ureaplasma parvum has been identified as a commensal microbiome in a healthy human uterus. Ureaplasma are part of the Mycoplasma family of bacteria, lacking a cell wall. This lack of cell wall makes these tiny microbes osmotically fragile.

Mycoplasmas have the smallest genome that we know of so far, being the smallest required for independent life.

U. parvum can be found inside human cells (intracellularly), meaning they can get into and survive in human cells without being attacked by our immune systems. They have an affinity for the urogenital tract of humans, and survive in the epithelial cells that line the vagina, vulva and urinary tract. U. parvum can be found outside the genitourinary tract, but less commonly, and typically where the immune system has been compromised.

U. parvum is known to be sexually transmitted, but can be transmitted to babies during birth. It is possible in those circumstances for mycoplasmas to survive in a child into adulthood.

Infection with mycoplasmas closely resembles that of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (chlamydia and gonorrhoea) in terms of who it affects.

Genital mycoplasmas can all vary the immunogenic proteins on their cell surface, which is likely how these microbes avoid our immune system and can persist for months or years in one person. U. parvum is a coloniser, with several genes coding for surface proteins, with the most important being Multiple Banded Antigen (MBA).

U. parvum was formerly known as Ureaplasma urealyticum biovar.

Testing for U. parvum

The best test is a PCR test, as U. parvum is very difficult to culture and requires special medium. Most labs are not equipped with these special tools.

Genital mycoplasmas include:

Ureaplasma spp.
Mycoplasma hominis – can cause vulvovaginal infections and infections post-birth, can be cultured, but sensitivity is poor
Mycoplasma genitalium – cause of urethritis and endocervicitis, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), cannot be cultured at all outside research labs
Ureaplasma urealyticum – causes urethritis
Ureaplasma parvum

Possible ammonia odour – urease positive.

U. parvum can cause inflammation¹. U. parvum is associated with preterm birth^1,2. U. urealyticum is linked with male infertility^3,4 and bacterial vaginosis (BV), with that effect increasing with the joint efforts of U. parvum⁵.

Ureaplasma species can form biofilms (in vitro at least), with biofilms strengthening antibiotic resistance⁶.

References

1.
Tristram D. Maternal Genital Tract Infection. In: Mucosal Immunology. Elsevier; 2015:2215-2229. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-415847-4.00113-0
2.
Sobouti B, Fallah S, Mobayen M, Noorbakhsh S, Ghavami Y. Colonization of Mycoplasma hominis and Ureaplasma urealyticum in pregnant women and their transmission to offspring. Iran J Microbiol. 2014;6(4):219-224. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25802703
3.
Simón Rodríguez C, Charry Gónima P, García Cardoso JV, González Enguita C. Infectious and Inflammatory Male Infertility. In: Encyclopedia of Reproduction. Elsevier; 2018:291-296. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-801238-3.64546-4
4.
Zhou YH, Ma HX, Shi XX, Liu Y. Ureaplasma spp. in male infertility and its relationship with semen quality and seminal plasma components. Journal of Microbiology, Immunology and Infection. Published online December 2018:778-783. doi:10.1016/j.jmii.2016.09.004
5.
Frølund M, Falk L, Ahrens P, Jensen JS. Detection of ureaplasmas and bacterial vaginosis associated bacteria and their association with non-gonococcal urethritis in men. Fredricks DN, ed. PLoS ONE. Published online April 4, 2019:e0214425. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0214425
6.
Pandelidis K, McCarthy A, Chesko KL, Viscardi RM. Role of Biofilm Formation in Ureaplasma Antibiotic Susceptibility and Development of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia in Preterm Neonates. The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. Published online April 2013:394-398. doi:10.1097/inf.0b013e3182791ae0

Condition type	Bacteria
Affected systems	Reproductive, Urinary
Sexually Transmissible	yes
Genitourinary Incidence	very common
Age group affected	birth to death

Microbial information

Anaerobe / Aerobe	Aerobe
Gram stain	Gram-negative
Best tests to detect	PCR
Pathogen of	Vagina Urinary tract
Commensal of (Can naturally inhabit, but not necessarily as a healthy addition)	Vagina
Optimal growth pH	6 6.5 7
Conditions correlated with	Bacterial vaginosis (BV) Cervicitis General human infection Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) Sexually transmitted infection (STI) Urinary tract infection (UTI) Vaginal dysbiosis
Cellular adherence capacities	High
Found in healthy vaginas	Possibly
Biofilm-forming capacities	High
Cellular Morphology	Pleomorphic (many shapes)
Microbe Motility	Non-motile
Colony Colour
Substances Produced
Sexually Transmissible	Yes

What are the symptoms of Ureaplasma parvum vulvovaginal infections?

What causes Ureaplasma parvum vulvovaginal infections?

No causes found for Ureaplasma parvum vulvovaginal infections, yet.

What are the risk factors associated with Ureaplasma parvum vulvovaginal infections?

Immunocompromised

How do you diagnose Ureaplasma parvum vulvovaginal infections?

Positive PCR

How do you treat Ureaplasma parvum vulvovaginal infections?

Treatments for Ureaplasma parvum vulvovaginal infections are only for practitioners and people who purchased the book Killing BV and Killing BV for men.

Which treatments are likely to be ineffective for Ureaplasma parvum vulvovaginal infections?

What complications are associated with Ureaplasma parvum vulvovaginal infections?

No complications found for Ureaplasma parvum vulvovaginal infections, yet.

References

Yarbrough, V. L.; Winkle, S.; Herbst-Kralovetz, M. M. (2014). "Antimicrobial peptides in the female reproductive tract: a critical component of the mucosal immune barrier with physiological and clinical implications". Human Reproduction Update. 21 (3): 353–377. doi:10.1093/humupd/dmu065. ISSN 1355-4786. PMID 25547201.Mor, Gil; Kwon, Ja-Young (2015). "Trophoblast-microbiome interaction: a new paradigm on immune regulation". American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 213 (4): S131–S137. doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2015.06.039. ISSN 0002-9378. PMID 26428492.Mandell, Douglas, and Bennett's Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases (Eighth Edition) Volume 2, 2015, Pages 2190-2193.e2 186 - Genital Mycoplasmas: Mycoplasma genitalium, Mycoplasma hominis, and Ureaplasma David H.Martin https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-1-4557-4801-3.00186-7Mucosal Immunology (Fourth Edition) Volume 2, 2015, Pages 2183-2214 Chapter 112 - Immunity to Sexually Transmitted Infections Michael W. Russell Judith Whittum-HudsonPaul L. Fidel Jr. Edward W. Hook III Jiri Mestecky https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-415847-4.00112-9Molecular Medical Microbiology (Second Edition) Volume 3, 2015, Pages 1587-1609 Chapter 89 - Mycoplasmas and Ureaplasmas of Humans Ken B.WaitesLiXiao https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-397169-2.00089-5Cunningham SA, Mandrekar JN, Rosenblatt JE, Patel R. Rapid PCR Detection of Mycoplasma hominis, Ureaplasma urealyticum, and Ureaplasma parvum. Int J Bacteriol. 2013;2013:168742. doi:10.1155/2013/168742