Mycoplasma hominis in cervicitis and endometritis

The presence of serum IgG antibody to Mycoplasma hominis was studied by enzyme immunoassay in 150 women with suspected cervicitis at a clinic for sexually transmitted diseases. Positive levels of antibody were associated with gravidity and parity but not with age, method of birth control, or sexual behavior. Women from whom M. hominis was isolated had higher antibody levels than those from whom M. hominis was not isolated, regardless of the presence or absence of mucopurulent cervicitis. In women with mucopurulent cervicitis, M. hominis did not interact synergistically with Chlamydia trachomatis to affect the severity of cervicitis or the number of polymorphonuclear leukocytes on gram-stained cervical tissue. A striking association was found between plasma cell endometritis and the prevalence and level of serum antibody to M. hominis. Similarly, clinical findings suggesting endometritis were associated with the prevalence and level of this antibody. In contrast, endometritis was not associated with the isolation of M. hominis from the cervix, although it was associated with the isolation of C. trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Urethritis in male sexual partners of women with mucopurulent cervicitis was associated with the isolation of C. trachomatis but not of M. hominis from the women.