Effect of Chlamydia trachomatis and Mycoplasma genitalium infections on IVF outcome among women referred to Razavi hospital and Milad infertility center, Mashhad

Chlamydia trachomatis and Mycoplasma genitalium are of the main causes of womens' genital tract worldwide. These two bacteries cause urethritis, cervicitis, and pelvic inflammatory disease, which can lead to infertility in women. This study was performed with aim to determine the prevalence of these two infections in infertile women and its effect in IVF treatment failure. 

In this study, cervical swab sampling was performed from 100 infertile patients referred to infertility treatment center of Razavi hospital and Milad infertility center in Mashhad. The swabs were then immediately placed in a Screw Cap Test Tubes containing thioglycollate medium  and transferred to the laboratory.
The incubation was performed at 37C for 18 hours and then the tubes were centrifuged. The resulting precipitate was transferred into the microtubule, and after 3 washes, DNA extraction was performed by boiling. Finally, the supernatant was used for PCR (Uniplex PCR) separately with specific primers for each of these bacteria

The results showed that 23 samples were positive for Chlamydia trachomatis and most cases of IVF failure were related to this group (17 cases). Only one specimen was positive for Mycoplasma genitalium which was related to a patient with IVF failure.

Considering the prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis and and Mycoplasma genitalium, screening is impotrant in infertile women who suffer from relatively severe conditions and high costs of infertility treatment, including IVF. So, it is suggested that before any infertility treatment, the patients be monitored for the presence of these bacteries and receive antibiotic treatment if the result was positive.