Background & aim: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic lung disease characterized by irreversible progressive obstruction of the airways which occur in three forms including; emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and small airways disease. Mycoplasma pneumoniae causes respiratory problems such as sore throat, pharyngitis, tracheobronchitis and other respiratory infections, especially in patients with COPD. Conventional methods for detection of M. pneumoniae have restrictions so that, the use of a reliable and sensitive method is essential. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify Mycoplasma pneumoniae in respiratory secretions of patients with COPD by PCR method.

Methods: In the present cross-sectional study, a total of 120 respiratory secretions samples were collected from patients with COPD during a one year duration (2014-2015).  Bacterial identification was performed by the PCR method and confirmed by DNA sequencing. Collected data were analyzed by cross-sectional analysis.

Results: The most occurrence of Mycoplasma pneumoniae respiratory infections was in the age group of 4-21 years and the lowest rate was presented in the age group of 0 to 3 years. The results also indicated that of the collected 120 samples, 8 samples (6.6%) were positive for Mycoplasma pneumoniae and carried the P1 gene. These high rates of infection with these types of Mycoplasma were indicated in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary syndrome.

Conclusion: The results of the present study revealed that Mycoplasma pneumoniae can be one of the factors likely to develop COPD. The PCR method used with specific primers was able to detect Mycoplasma pneumoniae in respiratory secretions. This may facilitate the treatment portion of patients with symptoms of COPD.