Revista Română de Medicină de Laborator Vol. 23, Nr. 3, Septembrie, 2015 323 DOI: 10.1515/rrlm-2015-0029 Distribution of sexually transmitted diseases in a group of symptomatic male patients using urine samples and PCR technique Distribuția bolilor cu transmitere sexuală într-un grup de barbați simptomatici utilizand probe de urina si tehnica PCR Mihaela Laura Vica 1* , Lia Monica Junie 2 , Alecsandra Iulia Grad 3 , Alexandru Tataru 3 , Horea Vladi Matei 4 1. “Iuliu Haţieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy; 2. “Iuliu Haţieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Department of Microbiology, Cluj-Napoca, Romani; 3. “Iuliu Haţieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Department of Dermatology, Cluj-Napoca, Romania; 4. “Iuliu Haţieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Cluj- Napoca, Romania Abstract Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are a very important cause of illness worldwide and prolonged, untreated infections with STD pathogens may have serious consequences. Our study aims to evaluate the distribution of six different STDs (Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Trichomonas vaginalis, Ureaplasma urealyticum, Mycoplasma hominis and Mycoplasma genitalium) in male urine samples. First void urine samples from 52 symp- tomatic patients were collected between April 2014 and April 2015. DNA was extracted, purifed and amplifed via multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the detection of the six STD pathogens, further identifed using a 2% agarose gel electrophoresis with ethidium bromide as staining agent. STD frequency in the study group was 53.84 % (28 patients), mostly in the 20-29 years age group. Among positive patients, six presented multiple infections. 35 positive DNA samples were identifed in the study: 17 of C. trachomatis, 9 of U. urealyticum, 7 of N. gonorrhoeae and 2 of M. genitalium. Wide scale application of the system based on the simultaneous detection of these six patho- gens inducing STD may facilitate diagnosis, especially in multiple infections. Keywords: STD pathogens;DNA;simultaneous detection;PCR;gel electophoresis Rezumat Bolile cu transmitere sexuală (BTS) reprezintă o cauză foarte importantă a îmbolnăvirilor în lume, iar infecţiile prelungite şi netratate cu agenţii patogeni care provoacă BTS pot avea consecinţe serioase. Scopul studiului nostru a fost să evalueze distribuția a şase tipuri diferite de BTS (Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, *Corresponding author: Mihaela Laura Vica , “Iuliu Haţieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj-Napoca, Romania, e-mail: mvica@umfcluj.ro Research Article