Go Back Research Article March, 2011

The Microbial Communities in Male First Catch Urine Are Highly Similar to Those in Paired Urethral Swab Specimens

Author James Dennis Fortenberry Author David E. Nelson Author Qunfeng Dong

Abstract

Urine is the CDC-recommended specimen for STI testing. It was unknown if the bacterial communities (microbiomes) in urine reflected those in the distal male urethra. We compared microbiomes of 32 paired urine and urethral swab specimens obtained from adult men attending an STD clinic, by 16S rRNA PCR and deep pyrosequencing. Microbiomes of urine and swabs were remarkably similar, regardless of STI status of the subjects. Thus, urine can be used to characterize urethral microbiomes when swabs are undesirable, such as in population-based studies of the urethral microbiome or where multiple sampling of participants is required.

Keywords

male urine microbiome urethral swab sti testing cdc guidelines 16s rrna sequencing urethral microbiome bacterial communities urine specimen std clinic microbial similarity pyrosequencing population-based studies microbiome analysis non-invasive testing urethral health sti diagnosis male reproductive health microbial composition diagnostic microbiology public health screening infectious disease testing sexual health research urinary tract microbiome non-invasive sampling clinical microbiology
Document Preview
Download PDF
Details
Volume 6
Issue 5
Pages 19709
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0019709
ISSN 1932-6203
Impact Metrics