Molecular investigation of cytolysin genes among bacterial isolates recovered from pyospermic patients in Hilla City, Iraq

Enterococcus faecalis and Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) are the most common causal agents of urinary tract infections (UTI) and infertility in humans. They secrete many cytolytic toxins that impact sperm functions and spermatogenesis. The current paper aimed to investigate the cytolysins among Bacteriospermia associated bacteria in pyospermic patients. 110 Seminal fluid swabs were collected from pyospermic patients (age Mean±SD, 35.5±2.12 years) from September 2020 to January 2021. All swabs were inoculated on UTI chromogenic medium for primary isolation of bacteria. Then the suspected Es. coli and En. faecalis have been confirmed by PCR using uidA and ddl genes, respectively. The results revealed that Es. coli compile 42.9% of bacteriospermia while En. faecalis 25.71%. Results of PCR for cytolysins reveal that all E. coli isolates have lta, hylA, sta, and stb (100%) genes, sheA (96.7%), stx2 (20%), and stx1(3.3%). All En. faecalis (100%) have Hyl, cylLS, cyILL genes. The current study concludes that both Es.  coli and En. faecalis have a set of toxins with possible damage to sperm function, causing indirect infertility.
 