TITLE:
Detection of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae in Egyptian Women Suffering from Infertility
AUTHORS:
Noha M. Elkayal, Nora F. Mahmoud, Salah Abdalla
KEYWORDS:
Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Female Infertility, Culture, Polymerase Chain Reaction, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbant Assay
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Microbiology,
Vol.5 No.12,
November
6,
2015
ABSTRACT: Chlamydial and gonococcal
infections are recognized as two of the major causes of sexually transmissible human
bacterial infection which may lead to infertility. In this cross sectional
study, we aimed to determine the prevalence of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia
trachomatis among Egyptian women using different microbiological methods.
One hundred and fifty cervical swabs were collected, of which 100 were from
infertile women. Culture and ELISA technique were used for screening of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis individually. In
addition, PCR was used for all examined samples. For C. trachomatis, 3 cases were positive for antigen detection by
ELISA. Moreover, in obtained results of PCR, DNA was detected in 4 samples, and
three of them from infertile group. So based on PCR results, the sensitivity
and specificity of ELISA were 75% and 100% respectively. Furthermore, 3 samples
were positive for gonococcal infections by PCR, and two of them were taken from
infertile women. Positive results of two samples were verified by culture. The
estimated sensitivity and specificity of culture method were 66.7% and 100%
respectively. Results of this study indicate that PCR is a valuable method for
detection of gonococcal and chlamydial infection and it is suitable for the confirmation
of ELISA results for C. trachomatis diagnosis.
Culture method is less sensitive than PCR for detection of N. gonorrhoeae. The prevalence of such infections is higher among
infertile women.