Mycoplasma contamination of Chlamydia pneumoniae isolates

We examined 6 C. pneumonia isolates from The American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) and 2 Finnish isolates for Mycoplasma contamination. Three of the ATCC isolates and both of the Finnish isolates were Mycoplasma-contaminated. The contaminants were characterized by means of growth in BEa and BEg media, immunoblotting, polymerase chain reaction and pulsed field gel electrophoresis. Two of the 6 ATCC isolates [ATCC VR1355 (TWAR strain 2043) and ATCC VR1356 (TWAR strain 2023)] were infected with Mycoplasma hominis and 1 isolate [ATCC VR2282 (TWAR strain TW183)] was contaminated with both Mycoplasma hominis and Mycoplasma orale, whereas 3 of the ATCC isolates [ATCC VR1310, ATCC VR1360 (TWAR strain CM-1) and ATCC 53592 (TWAR strain AR39)] were not contaminated. The Finnish C. pneumoniae isolates Kajaani 6 and Parola were found to be contaminated with M. hominis and M. orale, respectively. The contamination of C. pneumoniae stock cultures, frequently used in the microimmunofluorescence test, with human pathogens, could pose a serious problem in C. pneumoniae serology.