Research advances in animal models of Ureaplasma urealyticum infection

Ureaplasma urealyticum,whose pathogenicity is still controversial,is a common microorganism found at the female urogenital tract mucosa.Infection of lower genital tract by Ureaplasma urealyticumcan cause nongonococcal urethritis or mucopurulent cervicitis,and while in the respiratory tract,Ureaplasma urealyticumcan induce neonatal pneumonia,bronchopulmonary dysplasia,chronic lung diseases,and so on.In the study of the pathogenesis of Ureaplasma urealyticuminfection,host immune responses,as well as prevention and treatment of Ureaplasma urealyticuminfection,and animal models are indispensable.A variety of animal models of Ureaplasma urealyticuminfection have been successfully established,mainly of lower genital tract and respiratory infections.Estradiol pretreatment is essential for the establishment of a reproductive tract infection and BALB/c mouse is the preferred animal model.However,the establishment of a respiratory tract infection does not require estradiol pretreatment,and a number of scholars have used C3H/HeN mouse to establish this model successfully.