Mycoplasma fermentans in individuals seropositive and seronegative for HIV-1

Mycoplasmas have been suggested as a co-factor to explain various puzzling features of infection by human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1). We sought Mycoplasma fermentans by means of a semi-nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in samples of peripheral-blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), throat swabs, and urine samples from 117 HIV-seropositive patients (of whom 114 were homosexual men). M fermentans was detected in 12 (10%) PBMC samples, 15 (23%) of 65 throat samples, and 4 (8%) of 55 urine samples from the seropositive subjects. The organism was detected in similar proportions among 73 HIV-seronegative patients recruited from a sexually transmitted diseases clinic (9%, 20%, and 6%, respectively); again, most of the men (40 of 50) in this group were homosexual. We found no association between infection by the mycoplasma and stage of disease, CD4 count, or HIV-1 load. These findings do not, however, eliminate the possibility that the mycoplasmal infection could affect the speed of disease progression.