Abstract Leishmania species are intracellular protozoan parasites that spend a portion of their life cycle in the midgut of sand flies and the remainder in the tissues of mammals. These parasites, which cause a class of human disorders known as leishmaniasis, live mostly in macrophages, where they multiply and survive by employing a variety of defense mechanisms against the oxidative stress and acidity generated by these immune cells. To help control their reaction to heat stress, they also produce heat shock proteins. Furthermore, the promastigote form has a glycocalyx that is necessary for colonizing the gut wall of the sand fly and completing its life cycle. Consequently, a variety of virulence factors contribute to the parasite's pathogenicity. Clinical signs and symptoms vary depending on the species of Leishmania and the host's immune system. In cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis, the symptoms may be limited to the skin, but if left untreated, they may spread to internal organs and be lethal.
Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate babesiosis in dogs of different breeds and ages and of both sexes in Baghdad Province by molecular detection of Babesia canis using conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequencing followed by phylogenetic analyses. Materials and Methods: Blood samples were collected from 310 dogs of different ages and breeds, and of both sexes in different areas of Baghdad Province from December 2018 to September 2019; during clinical examinations, body temperature, pulse, respiratory rate, and signs of diseases were recorded. PCR was used to amplify a specific 450-bp fragment of the 18S rRNA gene of B. canis. PCR products were sequenced, and MEGA 6.0 software was used for analysis. Chi-squar
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Leishmania is the causative agent of leishmaniasis, a widely distributed disease. Amastigote forms of Leishmania are intracellular and reside within the macrophage of the vertebrate host. Previous studies showed that certain Leishmania species may scavenge host factors for survival, specially sphingolipids, the key element of the eukaryotic membranes. In this study we have investigated the survival of new world L. mexicana amastigotes in murine macrophage cell-line in the presence and absence of foetal bovine serum (FBS). Results showed that there was no significance in the infectivity of amastigotes and also the number of parasite per cell; such findings suggest that L. mexicana amastigotes have its own pathway of sphingolipid intake and c
... Show MoreAn epidemiological study in Al-Mahmmodiya (50 km south Baghdad) to investigate a possible vector of Leishmaniasis were applied .This region is considered as a foci of Leishmaniasisaccording to the health association statistics. CDC light traps were used to collect the insects nightly. Insects were collected by Indoor application as human dwellings and animal shelters and Outdoor application as rodent's barrows and field trees. Sand flies were transported to the laboratory, isolated and identified according to the identification keys in Tropical Biological Researches Unit at the Collage of Science / University of Baghdad. Must of the collected sand flies were belonging to three species PhlebotomuspapatasiScopoli(45%), PhlebotomusalexandriSin
... Show MoreIn the current study, different concentrations of miltefosine drug, which is the first effective and safe oral treatment for visceral leishmaniasis, was evaluated against L. donovani promastigotes in comparison with pentosam drug. Direct counting microscopic assay was used to find 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) of miltefosine and pentostam against L. donovani promastigotes. The IC50 of miltefosine drug was 45.42μg/ml, 46.76μg/ml and 36.68μg/ml after 24 hr, 48hr and 72hr respectively, In comparison with IC 50 of pentostam drug was 75.39 μg/ml after 72hr. There were significant differences (P˂0.05) between IC50 values of miltefosine and pentostam drugs from first day to third day.
Background: Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M. pneumoniae) is an important respiratory bacterial pathogen, especially among children. It causes acute upper and lower respiratory infections.Objective: This study was aimed to measure anti- M. pneumoniae antibodies among hospitalized children who were admitted to hospital diagnosed with acute respiratory tract infections.Method: Automated ELISA technique was performed to detect anti- M. pneumoniae antibodies (IgM and IgG antibodies) in serum from 108 children less than 5 years old. The children were admitted to the Pediatric Teaching Hospital in Suleimani city/Kurdistan Region/Iraq because of acute respiratory tract infections. A questionnaire was designed to collect demographic and clinical data fr
... Show MoreLeishmaniasis is one of the neglected parasitic diseases, which belongs to the family Trypanosomatidae. Cutaneous leishmaniasis is endemic in Iraq and the available drugs are of side effect or resistant by the parasite. In this study, cytotoxicity of methotrexate was investigated on the promastigotes proliferation of the Iraqi strain ofL.tropica.The results showed a significant (p ≥ 0.05) difference in growth of treated groupsat all concentration (1000, 500, 250, 125.5, 62.5, 31.25, 15.6) μM, after 24 and 48 hours of follow up, while after 72 hours, significant difference was observed at concentration(1000, 125, 62.5) μM.The IC50 measured after 24and 48 hours and it was 40.366 and 44.452 μM, respectively.The present study showed
... Show MoreSerine Palmitoyltransferase SPT is the key enzyme in the de novo sphingolipids biosynthesis pathway in eukaryotes, including the intracellular parasite Leishmania. Previous studies showed that this enzyme SPT is expressed only in divided promastigote forms and it is non-essential in the amastigotes form of Leishmania major, which is known as the old world leishmaniasis. In this study we have studied the viability of new world lesihamniasis, Leishmania mexicana. Cytotoxicity test used to determine the effect of the SPT inhibitor myriocin which did not significantly affect the viability of the two forms of the in vitro cultures of the parasite p<0.05, procyclic promastigotes and amastigotes, in which cell viability for miltefosine trea
... Show MoreThe present study was included the isolation of Keratinophilic fungi from water samples taken from 19 indoor public swimming pools in Baghdad during four season (summer ,fall ,spring ,and winter). Isolation period was September 2011and September 2012 . Samples were collected from different places in swimming pool . Sixteen keratinophilic fungal species, belonging to twenty –one genera were isolated using Surface Dilution Plating (SDP) and Hair Bait Technique (HBT) . Aspergillus genus was the most frequent and occurrence (19.84%), followed by Trichophyton (11.60%) and Fusarium (7.59% ) . The most common fungal infection occurred in summer season (42.16%) , and the most frequent month manifestation of species occurred in August
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Objective(s): This study was conducted to deal with the importance and effect of various variables which might
have influence in hydrocephaly occurrence.
Methodology: A retrospective design was performed and continued for 4 months. It included 89 nonrandomized
consecutive samples collected from the Early Detection of Childhood Disabilities Center (E.D.C.D.C.)
Duhok. The population involved was the entire cases of both sexes that attended the centre during the period from
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st.Jan, 1998 to 30th. Dec. 2008 with final diagnosis of hydrocephaly. Patients’ records from the centre were used to
collect data.
Results: Hydrocephaly has been recognized as a public health problem in Duhok province, Iraqi Kurdistan region,<