The co-existence of genital Mycoplasma and Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolated from the male urethra.

Ureaplasma urealyticum and Mycoplasma hominis, separately or together, were co-isolated along with 34 of 102 strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae cultured from urethral swabs from men with urethritis. For approximately half of the N. gonorrhoeae strains, the mycoplasma(s) persisted for at least five passages on agar medium. U. urealyticum was isolated in 31 of the 34 instances. No association between particular serotype(s) of U. urealyticum or auxotypes of N. gonorrhoeae was identified. The auxotypes of the N. gonorrhoeae isolates were not altered by the presence of U. urealyticum. To screen cultures of N. gonorrhoeae for the presence of genital mycoplasmas, we recommend direct microscopy of growth on agar: for M. hominis, after the colony epifluorescence test, and, for U. urealyticum, after the urease spot test.