Prevalence of Trichomonas vaginalis by PCR in Men Attending a Primary Care Urology Clinic in South Korea

Abstract

Trichomonas vaginalis, a causative agent of trichomoniasis, may trigger symptomatic or asymptomatic nongonococcal urethritis and chronic prostatitis in men. Despite the availability of highly sensitive diagnostic tests, such as nucleic acid amplification tests, including PCR, few prospective studies present data on male T. vaginalis infection in South Korea. In the present study, the prevalence of T. vaginalis and associated clinical conditions were evaluated in 201 male patients from a primary care urology clinic in South Korea. The prevalence of T. vaginalis infection in our cohort was 4% (8/201) by PCR. T. vaginalis infection was common in men older than 40 years (median age, 52 years). Among the 8 Trichomonas-positive patients, 87.5% (7/8) had prostatic diseases, such as prostatitis and benign prostatic hyperplasia, and 25.0% (2/8) and 12.5% (1/8) were coinfected with Chlamydia trachomatis and Mycoplasma genitalium, respectively. Our results suggest that T. vaginalis infection is not rare in men attending primary care urology clinics in South Korea, especially in those older than 40 years, in whom it may explain the presence of prostatic disease. The possibility of T. vaginalis infection should be routinely considered in older male patients with prostatic diseases in South Korea.

Comparison of Seropositivity to Trichomonas vaginalis between Men with Prostatic Tumor and Normal Men

“…In recent study, the prevalence of T. vaginalis and associated clinical conditions were evaluated in male patients from a primary care urology clinic in South Korea. Among the T. vaginalis positive patients, 87.5% had prostatic diseases, such as prostatitis and BPH [11].…”

“…However, T. vaginalis had been found in prostate stroma and epithelium by immunoperoxidase stain, in BPH tissue and urine of prostatitis by PCR [1,2,9–11]. Our previous studies demonstrated that T. vaginalis experimentally cause inflammatory response in prostate epithelial and stromal cell lines through cytokine production and migration of inflammatory cells, and also induce proliferation of stromal cell via crosstalk with mast cell [20–22] In addition, Sutcliffe et al [23] hypothesized that T. vaginalis infection may contribute to carcinogenesis via inflammation; T. vaginalis adherence to prostate epithelial cells trigger a cell-signaling cascade through known proto-oncogenes, PIM1, c-MYC, HMGA-1, that may ultimately lead to prostate carcinogenesis.…”

Prevalence of <i>Trichomonas vaginalis</i> in Women Visiting 2 Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics in Daegu, South Korea

“…Consistent with the high prevalence of T. vaginalis infection in young women, 6 (50%) of the 12 T. vaginalis -positive patients that were detected by multiplex PCR assay were aged<30 years, which shows that there was a high percentage of co-infection with other sexually transmitted infections. Moreover, our previous surveillance studies of male patients attending a primary care urology clinic in the same region (Daegu) and time period found a T. vaginalis prevalence of 4% (8/201), which was slightly higher than the rate among female patients [ 30 ]. However, T. vaginalis was significantly more prevalent among older men (≥ 40 years, 87.5%) than among relatively younger men (<40 years, 11.5%), which is opposite of the distribution pattern of T. vaginalis prevalence in women by age.…”

Molecular Examination of Trichomonas vaginalis Infection and Risk of Prostate Cancer in the Biopsy of Patients with Different Prostate Lesions

“…Trichomonasvaginalis ( T. vaginalis ) is a flagellate protozoan that causes trichomoniasis which is one of the most common sexually transmitted non-viral infections( 1 , 2 ). Trichomoniasis is usually asymptomatic in men but can cause urethritis and prostatitis and may produce symptoms such as shown that T. vaginalis causes 180 million new cases per year worldwide.…”