Urethral microbiota in healthy men and patients with urethritis

Non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU) is a common disease in men. The main cause of NGU is sexually transmitted infections, which can cause various complications, including reproductive ones. Chlamydia trachomatis and Mycoplasma genitalium are the most common causes of NGU, but no known viral or bacterial pathogens are detected in 28-50% of cases. Traditional research methods revealed a higher load of specific pathogens in patients with urethritis compared to the control, but these studies do not allow us to determine the total bacterial load in the urethra. Using the 16S rRNA sequencing method to characterize the urine and urethral microbiota reveals a diverse bacterial microbiota in both asymptomatic men and patients with NGU, which has a high diversity. The revealed microbiota in both healthy and patients with urethritis still has an ambiguous interpretation and requires further study.