Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33264307›Full record

ArticlePloS one2020

Profile of sexually transmitted infections causing urethritis and a related inflammatory reaction in urine among heterosexual males: A flow-cytometry study.

Stanislav Tjagur, Reet Mändar, Margus Punab

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.7field-weighted citation impact, top 31% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. German evidence- and consensus-based guideline on the management of penile urethritis.Journal der Deutschen Dermatologischen Gesellschaft = Journal of the German Society of Dermatology : JDDG · 2025
    Guideline
  2. iScience · 2025
    Article
  3. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Stanislav TjagurAndrology Centre, Tartu University Hospital, Tartu, Estonia.ORCID 0000-0001-9679-990X
Reet MändarDepartment of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedicine and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.
Margus PunabAndrology Centre, Tartu University Hospital, Tartu, Estonia.
Tartu University Hospital · EECompetence Centre on Health Technologies (Estonia) · EE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundInformation about the use of flow cytometry in the diagnosis of male urethritis is scarce. The current study aims to evaluate the performance of flow cytometry on first-voided urine in males with infectious urethritis (Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Mycoplasma genitalium and Trichomonas vaginalis).

methodsMale patients of the Andrology Centre (Tartu University Hospital, Estonia) were recruited during the period March 2015 -January 2018. Cases included 306 patients with infectious urethritis caused by Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Mycoplasma genitalium and/or Trichomonas vaginalis. The control group consisted of 192 patients without uro-genital complaints, negative tests for C. trachomatis, N. gonorrhoeae, M. genitalium and T. vaginalis from first-voided urine and no inflammation in first-voided urine, mid-stream urine and urine after prostate massage. C. trachomatis, N. gonorrhoeae, M. genitalium and T. vaginalis were detected from first-voided urine using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. First-voided urine was analysed using urine particle analyzer Sysmex UF-500i.

resultsThe most prevalent infection was chlamydia (64.1%), followed by Mycoplasma genitalium (20.9%), gonorrhoea (7.8%) and trichomoniasis (1.6%). Gonorrhoea caused the highest flow-cytometric leucocyte/bacteria count, followed by chlamydia and Mycoplasma genitalium. Trichomonas vaginalis showed nearly absent inflammation in first-voided urine. Using an empiric flow-cytometry diagnostic threshold for urethritis in first-voided urine (leucocytes ≥ 15/μl and bacteria ≥ 20/μl) the total calculated sensitivity was over 90%. However, when applying such criteria for deciding whether to perform first-voided urine PCR for C. trachomatis, N. gonorrhoeae, M. genitalium and T. vaginalis or not, we could miss 23 cases with infectious urethritis that makes up 7,5% of all proven cases.

conclusionsFlow cytometry of first-voided urine can be considered as a rapid and objective screening method in case of suspected male infectious urethritis.

Indexed as

HeterosexualityAdolescentAdultBody FluidsChlamydia InfectionsChlamydia trachomatisEstoniaGonorrheaHumansInflammationMaleMiddle AgedMycoplasma genitaliumMycoplasma InfectionsNeisseria gonorrhoeaeSexually Transmitted Diseases

Identifiers

PMID33264307
PMCPMC7710099
OpenAlexW3108383672

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.