Macrolide-resistant Mycoplasma genitalium: a hardly known health problem in Cuba, and on the rise

Authors

  • Brian Arturo Mondeja Rodríguez Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Cuba https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6196-3570
  • Javier Curí
  • Nadia Rodríguez
  • Orestes Blanco
  • Carmen Fernández
  • Lilia Ortega
  • Ruxana Sardiñas
  • Elias Guilarte
  • Vivian Kourí
  • Jorgen Jensen

Keywords:

Mycoplasma genitalium, antimicrobial resistance, Cuba, macrolides, sexually transmitted infections

Abstract

Introduction: Mycoplasma genitalium is an emerging sexually transmitted pathogen. Preliminary studies conducted in Cuba, at the National Reference Laboratory of Mycoplasma at the Pedro Kourí Institute, demonstrated the circulation of genotypes resistant to macrolides and tetracyclines in clinical isolates in Vero cells. However, this methodology is laborious and long, which makes it unhelpful for the clinical management and treatment of patients. Aims: the aim of this study was the implementation of a rapid and sensitive molecular diagnostic tool based on Real Time PCR Mycoplasma genitalium antimicrobial susceptibility to macrolides to be determined, directly in clinical samples.
Methods: this study implemented a rapid and sensitive molecular diagnostic tool based on Real Time PCR, which allows the presence of M. genitalium and its antimicrobial susceptibility to macrolides to be determined, directly in clinical samples, which decreases the time between diagnosis and treatment and permits the eradication of this microorganism in positive patients. This fact helps to cut the transmission chains of STIs caused by this bacterium, having a positive impact on the STI control program in Cuba. The results of the molecular method were corroborated by phenotypic tests of antimicrobial susceptibility of isolates in cell cultures, achieving a total coincidence between the result of the qPCR in the clinical sample and the corresponding isolates.
Results: A substantial increase in macrolide resistance in M. genitalium was detected from 18 % in 2014 to 98 % in 2019, which has allowed health authorities to implement more accurate syndromic antimicrobial treatment protocols for STIs, contributing to better use of antibiotics in our country, in line with current WHO policies for the rational use of antimicrobials.

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Published

2021-06-01

How to Cite

Mondeja Rodríguez, B. A., Curí, J., Rodríguez, N., Blanco, O., Fernández, C., Ortega, L., … Jensen, J. (2021). Macrolide-resistant Mycoplasma genitalium: a hardly known health problem in Cuba, and on the rise. Anales De La Academia De Ciencias De Cuba, 11(2), e837. Retrieved from https://revistaccuba.sld.cu/index.php/revacc/article/view/837

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 2 (2021): mayo-agosto

Section

Biomedical sciences

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