Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflamed chronic autoimmune disease in which genetics and environment are the most common causative factors. Peptidyl arginine deiminase type IV (PADI4) is an enzyme responsible for the posttranslational conversion of arginine residues into citrulline. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is a specific technique was used to determine gene polymorphism. One hundred twenty three patients molecularly confirmed with RA and sixty healthy control subjects were recruited. By applying the logistic regression analysis, some alleles and genotypes were associated with susceptibility to RA. Under the allelic model, C allele frequency was significantly increased in RA patients compared

Cytokines play a prominent role in etiology and pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and one of these cytokines is interleukin-1β (IL-1β). The association between IL1B gene single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP: rs16944) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in a sample of Iraqi patients was investigated. Fifty-one RA patients (21 males and 30 females) were enrolled and their age range was 20 - 63 years (44.9 ± 1.5 years). In addition to patients, 45 apparently healthy control subjects were also enrolled in the study. They matched patients for ethnicity (Iraqis), gender (14 males and 31 females) and age (41.3 ± 1.3 years). Analysis of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) in RA patients and controls revealed that the IL1B ge

Foodborne diseases are a major risk for human health. Millions of people become sick as a result of eating contaminated food with microorganisms that cause diseases. S.  aureus is considered as one of the most important pathogenic bacteria, having the ability to  activate certain genes that encode for heat stable enterotoxins and cause Staphylococcal food poisoning. Thus, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of multi resistant Staphylococcus aureus that produce enterotoxins in different sources of food . Forty nine isolates were identified as S.aureus, according to morphological and biochemical tests. They were isolated from 387 different food samples from several randomly covered restaurants

The control of water represents the safe key for fair and optimal use to protect water resources due to human activities, including untreated wastewater, which is considered a carrier of a large number of antibiotic-resistant bacterial species. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of antibiotic-resistance to E. coli in Tigris River by the presence of resistance genes for aminoglycoside(qepA( ,quinolone (gyrA), and sulfa drugs( dfr1 ,dfr17) due to the frequent use of antibiotics and their release into wastewater of hospitals. Samples were collected from three sites on Tigris River: S1( station wastewater in Adhamiya), S2 (station wastewater in Baghdad Medical city hospital), S3 (station wastew

This study investigated the prevalence of oqxA and oqxB genes and their effective roles in the development of multidrug resistant (MDR) phenotype among clinical isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae. Out of 150 clinical samples, 50 (33%) isolates were recognized as K. pneumoniae according to the morphological and biochemical properties. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) assay revealed that the resistance values of the isolates were 43 (86%) against ceftriaxone (4- ≥64 µg/ml), 42 (84%) against ceftazidime (16- ≥64 µg/ml), 41 (82%) against cefepime (≥16 µg/ml), 21 (42%) against ertapenem (≥8 µg/ml), 18 (36%) against imipenem (4- ≥16 µg/ml), 15 (30%) aga

      Under high concentrations of antibiotics, a fraction of the bacterial population exhibits a phenomenon known as persistence. Toxin- system (TA system) has been reported to be involved in the formation of E. coli, Mycobacterium, and S. aureus persisters.  In this study, the ability of thirty Iraqi isolates of MRSA to form in vitro persister cells after exposure to three different antibiotics (Ceftriaxone 30 µg, Mecillinam 10 µg, and Mupirocin 20 µg) was examined by TD test. Additionally, efflux pump inhibitor [Fluphenazine 0.25 mg/ml] was combined with the antibiotic that triggered persister formation. The distribution of mazEF and yefM-yoeB (Type II TA system) in the tested isolates was detected by PCR. 91% of Mupirocin su

The members of the family of Eentrobacteriaceae harbour a gene cluster called polyketide synthase (pks) island. This cluster is responsible for the synthesis of the genotoxin colibactin that might have an important role in the induction of double-strand DNA breaks, leading to promote human colorectal cancer (CRC). Eleven out of the eighty eight isolates (12.5%) were pks+, distributed as 7 (8%) isolates of E. coli, 2 (2.25%) of K. pneumoniae and 2 (2.25%) of E. aerogenes. The cytotoxic effects of selected pks+ isolates (E. coli and E. aerogenes) on HeLa cells were represented by decreasing cell numbers and enlarged cell nuclei in comparison to the untreated cells. Cyt

The members of the family of Eentrobacteriaceae harbour a gene cluster called polyketide synthase (pks) island. This cluster is responsible for the synthesis of the genotoxin colibactin that might have an important role in the induction of double-strand DNA breaks, leading to promote human colorectal cancer (CRC). Eleven out of the eighty eight isolates (12.5%) were pks+, distributed as 7 (8%) isolates of E. coli, 2 (2.25%) of K. pneumoniae and 2 (2.25%) of E. aerogenes. The cytotoxic effects of selected pks+ isolates (E. coli and E. aerogenes) on HeLa cells were represented by decreasing cell numbers and enlarged cell nuclei in comparison to the untreated cells. Cytological changes were observed when the infected HeLa cells culture

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) represents the most prevalent type of acute leukemia in adults and is responsible for approximately 80% of all cases. The tumor suppressor gene (TP53) is a gene that has been frequently studied in cancer, and mutations in this gene account for about 50% of human cancers. This study aims to evaluate the correlation between two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the gene: rs1042522 and rs1642785, and a group of Iraqi patients suffering from pre-diagnostic acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Blood samples were collected from sixty patients (26 males and 34 females) and sixty controls (26 males and 34 females); these subjects were matched in gender, age, and ethnicity. Genomic DNA has been extracted fro

The expanding of the medically important diseases created by multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii warrants the evolve a new methodology for prevention includes vaccination and treatment. Totally of forty-five clinical isolates identified as A.baumannii were obtained from hospitalized patients from three hospital in Baghdad City during the period from February 2016 to August 2016. Followed by diagnosing using different methods. Every strain was tested for susceptibility testing also some important virulence factorswere detected. Two isolates were chosen for the immunization and vaccine model, the first one remittent for most antibiotics except one are too virulence (strong) and the second is less virulent and resistance (weak).Enzyme-