Abstract Candida albicans is a commensal fungal pathogen that grows in yeast and hyphal forms in the human gut. C. albicans causes mucosal and cutaneous diseases that can result in significant mortality following systematic infections and it also exhibits drug resistance. Zebrafish have been an excellent model to investigate C. albicans infections because of their transparency and the availability of many transgenic lines. However, there is a limitation in using zebrafish as a model because the fish embryos cannot survive at 37°C therefore it is not suitable for studying Candida infections at physiological relevant human body temperature. In this thesis, the normal embryonic development of Arabian killifish (A. dispar) is investigated, revealing that embryogenesis was divided into 32 stages based on diagnostic patterns of development. A. dispar can also found to tolerate a wide range of temperatures and salinities. This suggests that A. dispar could be developed as a novel model to investigate host-pathogen interactions. The tolerance of A. dispar to high temperatures may in part be attributable to brown pigment cells with a highly fluorescent character that may have developed to allow the fish to adapt to live within extreme environmental conditions with strong sunlight and a wide range of temperatures (Chapter 3). In terms of Candida infections, this study examined A. dispar as a model to test C. albicans pathogenicity. The survival of A. dispar embryos following Candida infection showed a dose dependent relationship. We also found that A. dispar can survive longer than zebrafish after infection. Furthermore, C. albicans cells were observed to undergo a transition from yeast to hyphae at 37°C. An investigation of the ability of mutant strains of C. albicans with defects in cell wall mannosylation revealed a significant impact on virulence, host mortality, and the fishes’ immune response. The present study found that although the deletion of O- and N-mannan from the cell wall of C. albicans, affected fungal burden (attenuation), and the survival of the infected embryos per se was significantly decreased in the infections of the mutant strains compared to the WT. This data confirms the importance of the mannosylation state of the cell wall in triggering an immune recognition event (Chapter 4). A. dispar is also shown to be suitable for studying the effectiveness of 3 | P a g e antifungals. Fluconazole treatment of infected embryos and eggs promoted greater rates of survival at high doses, alongside a significant reduction of C. albicans CFUs (Chapter 4). When looking at the Candida-host interaction, we directly observed phagocytosed yeast cells within macrophages. Various detection methods were used to follow macrophages and neutrophils including Western blotting, immunostaining and histological staining (Sudan black and FITC-tyramide) allowing the monitoring of the time course of the immune cells. A biphasic response of macrophages was detected by L-plastin Western blotting, suggesting activation of two different type of macrophage: activated macrophage (M1) and alternative macrophage (M2). We also assayed reactive oxygen species (ROS) within infected embryos using a fluorescent probe (H2DCFDA), revealing the accumulation of the fluorescent probe at the sites of infection. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the oxidative and immune response using the H2DCFDA and qPCR were also accomplished within A. dispar embryos after infection with both the WT and mutant strains of Candida albicans (WT, pmr1∆, mnt1-mnt2∆, and och1∆). The results confirmed that the mutant strains did not activate a host oxidative stress response nor immune cell accumulation when compared to WT, suggesting that the immune response is less activated against these mutants. Finally, a new transgenic line of A. dispar fish was developed using Betaactin-DsR-LoxP-GFP. The new transgenic A. dispar is suggested to be an ideal model for real time observation of host-pathogen interactions and for investigation of molecular functions of the immune response. Overall these results improve our understanding of the use of a new transparent fish model to study fungal pathogenesis and demonstrates the potential advantages of using this species in future studies of bacterial, fungal and viral pathogens at a physiologically relevant temperature for human infection. Such a model could lead us to investigate in more depth the key interactions between pathogens and their host and permit the screening and development of new antifungal therapies (that might target the pathogens directly or target the host immune system). View full metadata
This study is conducted to determine the activity of plant Vica faba and two isolated from arbuscular mycorrhizae fungi (A,B) in bioremediation of soil pollution by Nickel and Lead elements in north and south of Baghdad city. The results showed that the average of soil pollution by Nickel and Lead elements in north of Baghdad was less than the average of soil pollution in the south of Baghdad which recorded 29.0,9.0PPm and 42.0, 25.0PPm respectively. The results show that the isolate A from the polluted soil is more active from isolate B which isolate from unpolluted soil for bioremediation. Vica faba recorded more in accumulate the Lead element in shoot system which was 19.65PPm and in root system was 27.2PPm and for Nickel element 24.65
... Show More
This work aimed to investigate the prevalence of pathogenic fungi and evaluate the antifungal activity of Trichoderma orientale FMR12486 crude extract against pathogenic fungi isolated from patients attending the National Center for Thoracic and Respiratory Diseases (having a history of tuberculosis) and consultant of Dermatology of Baghdad hospital, Iraq. A total of 80 clinical specimens were collected: 20 skin scrapings specimens and 60 sputum specimens. The results of direct examination by KOH 10% and culture showed that 11 (55%) cases from 20 skin specimens were positive for fungal infections, while in the sputum specimens, 28 (47%) cases from 60 were positive. Candida albicans represented the most common fungal infection isolat
... Show More
(1)
Candida Berkh. (1923) occurs naturally in the body. But it becomes opportunistic fungi, meaning that it infects humans when there is any weakening of the immune system, such as exposure to chemotherapy, diabetes, or organ transplantation. Most species of Candida grow at a temperature between 20-40 °C and have a pH of 3-8. Human pathogens of Candida species include C. albicans, C. glabrata, C. lusitaniae, C. parapsilosis, C. tropicalis and C. utili. C. albicans has many virulence factors that facilitate injury process. Virulence factors are considered as a measure of pathogenicity, and it is in the form of fungal toxins, enzymes, or cell structures that facilitate infection, as well as pathogen resistance in different conditions. This study
... Show MoreUsing sodium4-((4,5-diphenyl-imidazol-2-yl)diazenyl)-3-hydroxynaphthalene-1-sulfonate (SDPIHN) as a chromogenic reagent in presence of non-ionic surfactant (Triton x-100) to estimate the chromium(III) ion if the wavelength of this reagent 463 nm to form a dark greenish-brown complex in wavelength 586 nm at pH=10,the complex was stable for longer than 24 hours. Beer's low, molar absorptivity 0.244×104L.mol-1.cm-1, and Sandal's sensitivity 0.021 µg/cm2 are all observed in the concentration range 1-11 µg/mL. The limits of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ), respectively, were 0.117 µg/mL and 0.385µg/mL. (mole ratio technique, job's method) were employed to
... Show More
(4)
Forty five wound specimens were collected from patients suffering from wound infections and taken from various hospitals in Ibb city, Yemen. The study was to determine synergic antibacterial activity of between mountain honey and Argemone mexicana plant. Isolation, identification of bacterial isolates and antibiotic sensitivity test were done. Agar-disc and agar-well diffusion method were carried to determine antibacterial activity of honey, Argemone mexicana plant and a mixture of them against bacterial isolates. Out of 45 specimens, 29 (64.4%) gave positive cultures. Staphylococcus aureus was the predominant bacterial pathogens with percentage (72.4%) followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (17.2%) and Staphylococcus epidermidis (10.4%).
... Show MoreThe rate of births delivered by cesarean section (CS) has gone up substantially all over the world. Post-cesarean surgical site infection (SSI) is a common cause of maternal morbidity and mortality that results in prolonged period of hospitalization with increased cost and direct health implications, especially in low socioeconomic population, resource- restricted settings, and war- related conditions with internal forced movement. This study was aimed to find incidence of post cesarean section surgical site infection withthe accompanying risk factors.Pregnant ladies admitted to department of obstetrics and gynecology at Medical City Hospital in Baghdad who had undergone CSs were followed up prospectively from first of January 2017 till end
... Show MoreThe study aimed to assess the frequency of invasive fungal infection in patients with respiratory diseases by conventional and molecular methods. This study included 117 Broncho alveolar lavage (BAL) samples were collected from patients with respiratory disease (79 male and 38 female) with ages ranged between (20-80) years, who attended Medicine Baghdad Teaching hospital and AL-Emamain AL-Khadhymian Medical City, during the period from September 2019 to April 2020. The results in PCR versus culture methods in this study showed that out of 117 samples of fungal infections 30(25.6 %) were detected by culture method, while the 24(20.5%) samples were detected by PCR technique, the most commonly diagnosed pathogenic fungi is Candida spp.
... Show More
(1)
Background:Oriental sore occurs mostly in the
mediteranian region , North Africa ,and the Middle East .
Rodents are the main reservoir for the parasite . The wet
type caused by L. major is rural and the dry type caused by
L. tropica is urban and humans are presumably the only
reservoir. Sand fly vectors are involved in all forms.
Objectives: This study aimed to show the most
important bacterial infections concomitant with cutaneous
leishmaniasis .
Methods; The study was performed on 75 patients (ages
1-50 years ) from both sexes were attending Skin Diseases
Department of Ramadi General Hospital during the period
extended from January to June 2000. These patients were
clinically diagnosed as patients
Abstract A total of 207 specimens were collected from different sources including patients, health care staff and hospital environment in Ibb city, Yemen. The study used the bacteriocin produced from active producer strains in typing of Staphylococcus aureus. Depending on the morphological, cultural and biochemical characteristics, 54 (26.09%) isolates of Staphylococcus aureus were identified. An antibiotic sensitivity test was done for the bacterial isolates, and the results showed that there were multiple resistant antibiotics. The Staphylococcin production of these isolates has been detected by using wells assay. Fifty one isolates were Staphylococcin producer. Four isolates (staph19, staph25, staph28 and staph43) were chosen as go
... Show More
(2)
Staphylococcus Sp.is the most common type of bacteria found in contamination place, we design this
study to compare the contamination accident between two hospitals in Baghdad.One of them isthe Burns
Specialist Hospital in the Medical CityinRusafa and another one is Al-Karama Hospital in Karkh. The
samples were collected fromOperativeWard No1 (OW1), Operative Ward No2 (OW2), Consulting Pharmacy
(CP), Emergency Room (ER), Reception Room (RR), Women's Ward (WW) and Men's Ward (MW).The
samples were taken from inside each clinical unit, surfaces, food, and air. The results showed that the
number of samples containing Staphylococcus sp. bacteria is 81, including 45 belonging to Al-Karama Burns
Ward Ho
(1)