Molecular screening of urogenital tract of adult males for Simkania negevensis

Abstract

Recently, the existence of Simkania negevensis in the genitalia of women was confirmed. As to the source of infection to females, it was hypothesized that Simkania could be transmitted from human to human via sexual contact. This work aims to investigate whether Simkania could inhabit the urogenitalia of sexually active adult males. Urethral swabs and urine samples were collected from 101 adult males, mostly married, and next examined for the presence of Simkania DNA using two polymerase chain reaction (PCR) protocols, targeting a 311-bp long fragment of the bacterial chaperonin -60 gene ( cpn -60) or a domain within the conserved 16 S rRNA gene of the members within Chlamydiales order, which comprises Simkania with a length of 207 bp. All urethral swabs and urine samples collected from adult males were negative for the nucleic acids of S. negevensis in both PCR assays. Simkania was not evident in urogenital samples of adult males examined here. This preliminary finding indicates that Simkania may be potentially not sexually transmissible. This work could serve as a basis to conclusively verify the possible sexual transmission of the bacterium by testing larger number of sexually active males along with their female partners.