Mycoplasma genitalium antibody among infertile women in Kano, Northwestern Nigeria

Background: Infertility is an emerging health problem in many countries of the world including Nigeria. In many instances of asymptomatic or oligosymptomatic infection in women with infertility, it is difficult to find the etiological cause. Mycoplasma genitalium can be a cause of such asymptomatic infections and easily overlooked by clinicians. These bacteria can cause pelvic inflammatory disease leading to infertility. The seroprevalence of M. genitalium among infertile women will help in determining the extent of infection and define the medical attention it deserves. Objective: The study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of M. genitalium among women with infertility in Kano metropolis. Materials and Methods: About 2 mL of blood samples was collected from 59 infertile women attending infertility clinics and 31 pregnant women attending antenatal clinics (as controls) at Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital, Kano. ELISA kit (Sunlog Biotech, M. genitalium) was used to detect the presence of M. genitalium antibody (MG-IgG). Results: Most of the participants in both groups found to have positive M. genitalium-IgG, with 50 (84.7%) among infertile women and 28 (90.3%) among fertile women. Among all the possible risk factors observed, only vaginal discharge was found to have a statistically significant relationship with the presence of M. genitalium-IgG (P = 0.0356). Conclusion: The study observed that M. genitalium has no significant association with infertility in Kano because the observed prevalence in the control group is a little bit higher than that of the study participants. The high prevalence of M. genitalium-IgG obtained among infertile and fertile women strongly suggests that they are not always associated with symptoms, thus supporting the need for screening among women of reproductive age.