Association of Ureaplasma urealyticum biovars with clinical outcome for neonates, obstetric patients, and gynecological patients with pelvic inflammatory disease

In this prospective study, the prevalence of the two Ureaplasma urealyticum biovars, parvo and T960, was determined in pregnant women and in gynecological patients colonized by ureaplasmas. Furthermore, we investigated the association of these biovars with gynecological complications and adverse pregnancy outcome. Isolates of U. urealyticum from 254 women were biotyped by a PCRmethod recently developed. The parvo biovar was found in 81 % (206 of 254) of the patients, and the T960 biovar was found in 30 % (76 of 254) of the patients; 6 % (14 of 254) of the women were coinfected. Identical biovars were detected in mothers and their infants. Serial isolations or cultures from different sampling sites of the same individual revealed the same biovar. T960 was dominant in patients with pelvic inflammatory disease (57%) and patients who had had a miscarriage (42%), showed a higher rate of tetracycline resistance than did parvo isolates (55 versus 18%), and seemed to have more adverse effects on pregnancy outcome with regard to birth weight (2,500 versus 1,720 g), gestational age (35 versus 30 weeks), and preterm delivery (35 versus 77%). Ureaplasma urealyticum is considered to be a commensal in the lower genital tracts of sexually active women (4) and has been found at colonization rates of 40 to 80 % (17). In some colonized pregnant women, ureaplasmas have been considere