Antimicrobial treatment for chronic prostatitis as a means of defining the role of Ureaplasma urealyticum.

A study was conducted to assess the clinical and microbiological effects of antimicrobial treatment for chronic prostatitis as a means of defining the role of Ureaplasma urealyticum. Significant U. urealyticum cells were considered to be isolated from the prostates of 18 of 143 prostatitis patients. These patients with ureaplasma-associated prostatitis were randomly treated with either ofloxacin or minocycline for 2 weeks; 4 patients were excluded due to voluntary withdrawal. U. urealyticum was eradicated in all the patients. Symptoms were resolved in 10 patients, and leukocytes in expressed prostatic secretion were cleared in 4 patients; both drug treatments revealed similar results. Even if we exclude 3 patients with significant coexistent Staphylococcus epidermidis cells before treatment, 3 of 11 patients evaluated showed complete resolution of symptoms and clearance of leukocytes in expressed prostatic fluid. These results suggest that U. urealyticum is a causative organism in some patients with chronic prostatitis.