Abstract
A mycoplasma cultured from synovial fluid specimens from a patient with pneumonia and subsequent polyarthritis was identified initially as Mycoplasma pneumoniae. In retrospective studies, the culture was shown also to contain Mycoplasma genitalium. In this paper, the laboratory techniques employed in the identification and separation of the two species are presented, and evidence to implicate postinfectious autoimmunity is provided. An increasing number of reports of M. genitalium in human tissue sites and difficulties in isolation and identification of the organism in the clinical laboratory suggest the need for more extensive application of rapid and specific detection systems for both M. genitalium and M. pneumoniae in the clinical laboratory.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (243.0 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Barker C. E., Sillis M., Wreghitt T. G. Evaluation of Serodia Myco II particle agglutination test for detecting Mycoplasma pneumoniae antibody: comparison with mu-capture ELISA and indirect immunofluorescence. J Clin Pathol. 1990 Feb;43(2):163–165. doi: 10.1136/jcp.43.2.163. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Baseman J. B., Dallo S. F., Tully J. G., Rose D. L. Isolation and characterization of Mycoplasma genitalium strains from the human respiratory tract. J Clin Microbiol. 1988 Nov;26(11):2266–2269. doi: 10.1128/jcm.26.11.2266-2269.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Baseman J. B. The cytadhesins of Mycoplasma pneumoniae and M. genitalium. Subcell Biochem. 1993;20:243–259. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4615-2924-8_9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Dallo S. F., Chavoya A., Su C. J., Baseman J. B. DNA and protein sequence homologies between the adhesins of Mycoplasma genitalium and Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Infect Immun. 1989 Apr;57(4):1059–1065. doi: 10.1128/iai.57.4.1059-1065.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Davis C. P., Cochran S., Lisse J., Buck G., DiNuzzo A. R., Weber T., Reinarz J. A. Isolation of Mycoplasma pneumoniae from synovial fluid samples in a patient with pneumonia and polyarthritis. Arch Intern Med. 1988 Apr;148(4):969–970. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Horner P. J., Gilroy C. B., Thomas B. J., Naidoo R. O., Taylor-Robinson D. Association of Mycoplasma genitalium with acute non-gonococcal urethritis. Lancet. 1993 Sep 4;342(8871):582–585. doi: 10.1016/0140-6736(93)91411-e. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Jensen J. S., Orsum R., Dohn B., Uldum S., Worm A. M., Lind K. Mycoplasma genitalium: a cause of male urethritis? Genitourin Med. 1993 Aug;69(4):265–269. doi: 10.1136/sti.69.4.265. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Johnston C. L., Webster A. D., Taylor-Robinson D., Rapaport G., Hughes G. R. Primary late-onset hypogammaglobulinaemia associated with inflammatory polyarthritis and septic arthritis due to Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Ann Rheum Dis. 1983 Feb;42(1):108–110. doi: 10.1136/ard.42.1.108. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Leland D. S., Barth K. A., Cunningham E. B. Comparison of the Seradyn Color Vue passive agglutination test and complement fixation for detection of Mycoplasma pneumoniae antibodies. J Clin Microbiol. 1993 Apr;31(4):1013–1015. doi: 10.1128/jcm.31.4.1013-1015.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lind K., Lindhardt B. O., Schütten H. J., Blom J., Christiansen C. Serological cross-reactions between Mycoplasma genitalium and Mycoplasma pneumoniae. J Clin Microbiol. 1984 Dec;20(6):1036–1043. doi: 10.1128/jcm.20.6.1036-1043.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Maa J. S., Esteban M. Structural and functional studies of a 39,000-Mr immunodominant protein of vaccinia virus. J Virol. 1987 Dec;61(12):3910–3919. doi: 10.1128/jvi.61.12.3910-3919.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Morrison-Plummer J., Jones D. H., Daly K., Tully J. G., Taylor-Robinson D., Baseman J. B. Molecular characterization of Mycoplasma genitalium species-specific and cross-reactive determinants: identification of an immunodominant protein of M. genitalium. Isr J Med Sci. 1987 May;23(5):453–457. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Morrison-Plummer J., Lazzell A., Baseman J. B. Shared epitopes between Mycoplasma pneumoniae major adhesin protein P1 and a 140-kilodalton protein of Mycoplasma genitalium. Infect Immun. 1987 Jan;55(1):49–56. doi: 10.1128/iai.55.1.49-56.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Pönkä A., Pönkä T., Sarna S., Penttinen K. Questionable specificity of lipid antigen in the Mycoplasma pneumoniae complement fixation test in patients with extrapulmonary manifestations. J Infect. 1981 Dec;3(4):332–338. doi: 10.1016/s0163-4453(81)91901-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Samra Z., Gadba R. Diagnosis of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection by specific IgM antibodies using a new capture-enzyme-immunoassay. Eur J Epidemiol. 1993 Jan;9(1):97–99. doi: 10.1007/BF00463097. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Shikhman A. R., Cunningham M. W. Immunological mimicry between N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosamine and cytokeratin peptides. Evidence for a microbially driven anti-keratin antibody response. J Immunol. 1994 May 1;152(9):4375–4387. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Stuart P. M. Mycoplasmal induction of cytokine production and major histocompatibility complex expression. Clin Infect Dis. 1993 Aug;17 (Suppl 1):S187–S191. doi: 10.1093/clinids/17.supplement_1.s187. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Taylor-Robinson D., Furr P. M., Hetherington C. M. The pathogenicity of a newly discovered human mycoplasma (strain G37) for the genital tract of marmosets. J Hyg (Lond) 1982 Dec;89(3):449–455. doi: 10.1017/s0022172400071011. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Taylor-Robinson D., Furr P. M., Tully J. G. Serological cross-reactions between Mycoplasma genitalium and M. pneumoniae. Lancet. 1983 Mar 5;1(8323):527–527. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(83)92212-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Taylor-Robinson D., Gumpel J. M., Hill A., Swannell A. J. Isolation of Mycoplasma pneumoniae from the synovial fluid of a hypogrammaglobulinaemic patient in a survey of patients with inflammatory polyarthritis. Ann Rheum Dis. 1978 Apr;37(2):180–182. doi: 10.1136/ard.37.2.180. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Tully J. G., Baseman J. B. Mycoplasma. Lancet. 1991 May 25;337(8752):1296–1296. doi: 10.1016/0140-6736(91)92971-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Tully J. G., Rose D. L., Whitcomb R. F., Wenzel R. P. Enhanced isolation of Mycoplasma pneumoniae from throat washings with a newly-modified culture medium. J Infect Dis. 1979 Apr;139(4):478–482. doi: 10.1093/infdis/139.4.478. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Tully J. G., Taylor-Robinson D., Cole R. M., Rose D. L. A newly discovered mycoplasma in the human urogenital tract. Lancet. 1981 Jun 13;1(8233):1288–1291. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(81)92461-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Tully J. G., Taylor-Robinson D., Rose D. L., Furr P. M., Graham C. E., Barile M. F. Urogenital challenge of primate species with Mycoplasma genitalium and characteristics of infection induced in chimpanzees. J Infect Dis. 1986 Jun;153(6):1046–1054. doi: 10.1093/infdis/153.6.1046. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]