DETECTION OF UREAPLASMA-UREALYTICUM IN URINE OF PATIENTS WITH SYSTEMIC LUPUS-ERYTHEMATOSUS AND HEALTHY-INDIVIDUALS BY CULTURE AND POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION

A method was developed to detect Ureaplasma urealyticum in urine by th e polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A 457-bp fragment of the urease gen e of U. urealyticum was amplified by PCR. Before PCR, components distu rbing the amplification had to be reduced. This was possible by diluti ng the urine 1 in 10 with distilled water and by the extraction of the U. urealyticum DNA. Urine specimens from 41 patients with systemic lu pus erythematosus (SLE) and 21 healthy individuals were treated by the dilution method and investigated by PCR for U. urealyticum DNA. The r esults were compared with those obtained by culture and the detection rates of PCR and culture were found to be identical. Also there was no difference in the detection rates of U. urealyticum from urine of SLE patients and healthy individuals; 10 (24.4%) of the 41 urine specimen s from SLE patients and five (23.8%) of the 21 urine specimens from he althy individuals gave positive results for U. urealyticum. The result s of this study do not indicate a decisive role for U. urealyticum in SLE.