www.kjurology.org http://dx.doi.org/10.4111/kju.2011.52.10.703 Infection/Inflammation The Prevalence and Clinical Significance of Urethritis and Cervicitis in Asymptomatic People by Use of Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction Suk-Ju Kim, Dong Sup Lee1, Seung-Ju Lee1 Department of Urology, Uijeongbu St. Mary’s Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Uijeongbu, 1St. Vincent’s Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Suwon, Korea Purpose: Our purpose was to conduct a screening test for urethritis or cervicitis as a sexually transmitted disease (STD) by using multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and to determine the prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonor- rhoeae, Mycoplasma genitalium, Ureaplasma urealyticum, Mycoplasma hominis, and Trichomonas vaginalis in asymptomatic people. Materials and Methods: From July 2010 to December 2010, 709 persons who came to the hospital for a general checkup were tested. Multiplex PCR assays were done with first voided urine samples or endocervical swabs by use of the SeeplexⓇ STD6 ACE Detection kit. Results: The mean age in this study was 45.4±8.1 years. Among the 709 persons, 229 (32.3%) had a positive result for at least one microorganism, 48 (6.8%) had two different species, 6 (0.8%) had three different species, and 1 person had four different species. The overall prevalence of asymptomatic STDs such as urethritis or cervicitis was 7.1% (50/709). The prevalence rates of Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Mycoplasma genitalium, Ureaplasma urealyticum, Mycoplasma hominis, and Trichomonas vaginalis infection in asymptomatic persons were 5.6% (40/709), 0.4% (3/709), 0.3% (2/709), 22.1% (157/709), 11.6% (82/709), and 1.1% (8/709), respectively. Conclusions: With only a single sample, we could identify the prevalence rates of six microorganisms and the overall proportion of urethritis or cervicitis in asymptomatic people. This proportion cannot be neglected; therefore, screening tests for sexually transmitted diseases such as urethritis or cervicitis should be recommended to asymp- tomatic people. Key Words: Chlamydia; Mycoplasma; Polymerase chain reaction; Sexually transmitted diseases; Ureaplasma This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Article History: received 24 May, 2011 accepted 22 August, 2011 Corresponding Author: Seung-Ju Lee Department of Urology, St. Vincent's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, 93-6, Ji-dong, Paldal-gu, Suwon 442-723, Korea TEL: +82-31-249-8305 FAX: +82-31-253-0949 E-mail: lee.seungju@gmail.com INTRODUCTION Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Myco- plasma genitalium, and Trichomonas vaginalis are known pathogens in sexually transmitted infection (STI). Howev- er, most of those species present atypical symptoms and some patients have no symptoms [1-3]. Therefore, physi- cians sometimes have difficulty in making a differential diagnosis. Moreover, except for Chlamydia trachomatis and Mycoplasma genitalium, the treatment regimens be- tween the species differ. In addition, routine bacterial culture may give negatives result for commercial sexual workers or asymptomatic peo- ple who recently experienced unprotected sexual contact and have acquired an STI [1-3]. Thus, there are neglected asymptomatic patients in the community who can serve as Korean Journal of Urology Ⓒ The Korean Urological Association, 2011 703 Korean J Urol 2011;52:703-708