Rheumatoid factor-negative arthritis, especially ankylosing spondylitis, and infections of the male urogenital tract

The use of tapered self‐expanding stents and embolic protection devices in the treatment of stenotic ectatic coronary arteries: A report of two cases

“…Urogenital infection with Chlamydia trachomatis is also a common trigger of B27‐associated reactive arthritis (1). Moreover, there are scattered reports of increased prevalence of prostatitis and other urogenital syndromes in AS patients (45–47), and there are also intriguing reports of an association between AS and hypogonadism (48, 49). Whether the orchitis itself or related hormonal alterations played any role in the joint disease in the (21‐3 × 283‐2)F 1 males remains to be investigated, as does the striking absence of any pathologic changes in almost all of the (21‐3 × 283‐2)F 1 females.…”

Ankylosing spondylitis and infections of the female urogenital tract

“…A possible association between urogenital infections and AS in males was first pointed out by Romanus [8], and there was much discussion about the frequency of genitourinary infection in AS in subsequent years [2,10,11].…”

“…In previous studies we likewise noted an increased incidence of urogenital infections in male patients suffering from AS [9][10][11]. Corresponding studies of the female urogenital tract and the role of Chlamydia trachomatis in the chronicity and recurrence of the symptomatology of AS have not yet been determined.…”

Molecular detection of bacterial DNA in venereal‐associated arthritis

“…While the clinical association between certain venereal infections and arthritic syndromes is well established, the methods routinely used for detecting Neisseria, Chlamydia, and Ureaplasma have serious limitations. Microbiologic isolation of these organisms from synovial fluid is difficult, with a success rate of 25-50% for Neisseria (12)(13)(14)(15), and 0-50% for Chlamydia (16)(17)(18), with even lower success rates for Ureaplasma (19)(20)(21). Immunochemical detection, which has shown promise (22), also remains a research tool.…”

“…Evidence of Ureuplcisnza involvement in reactive arthritis has been reported (19)(20)(21)33), although this organism is more frequently implicated in septic arthritis associated with hypogammaglobulinemia (34-37). We searched for Ureaplasma DNA in this series, and found positive results in 3 specimens from 2 patients, including 2 urogenital specimens from one patient and 1 synovial fluid specimen from another patient.…”