BACKGROUND: HLA-B27 can effect clinical presentation and course of ankylosing spondylitis. Different detection techniques of HLA-B27 are available with variable sensitivities and specificities. OBJECTIVE: To compare serologic and molecular diagnostic techniques of detecting HLA-B27 status and to correlate it with some clinical variables among ankylosing spondylitis patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 83 Iraqi patients with ankylosing spondylitis. Clinical and laboratory evaluations were reported. HLA-B27 status was determined in all patients by real-time PCR using HLA-B27 RealFast™ kit; ELISA method was used as well to detect soluble serum HLA-B27 antigens using Human Leukocyte Antigen® kit. RESULTS:

This study aimed to isolate and identify Cryptococcus species from three distinct sources: sputum samples of pigeon fanciers, dried pigeon droppings, and eucalyptus tree leaves. A total of 150 specimens were collected over a two-month period, comprising 50 samples each from human sputum, pigeon droppings collected across various areas of Baghdad, and eucalyptus leaves obtained from the Baghdad College of Veterinary Medicine. All samples were cultured on Sabouraud dextrose agar supplemented with chloramphenicol and incubated at 25°C for 2–3 days. From the initial cultures, 20 isolates presumptively identified as Cryptococcus spp. were obtained: 6 isolates (12%) from human sputum, 9 isolates (18%) from pigeon droppings, and 5 isol

    The present study was performed to detect the molecular and the phylogenetic identification of species that belonging to the genus of Moniezia Blanchard, 1891 which affected intestines of sheep in Al-Diwaniyah city, Iraq; fifty intestine samples were sought for the infestation of Moniezia spp. from the city slaughterhouse from 1 October to 30 November 2017, this tapeworm was found to infest the intestines of 13 sheep.

    For morphological identify the genus of this tapeworm, eggs from one gravid proglottid of the thirteen worms were examined, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the PCR-product-based sequencing were applied on 4 Moniezia tapeworms targeti

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are defined as a population of cells present in tumours, which can undergo self-renewal and differentiation. Identification and isolation of these CSCs using putative surface markers have been a priority of research in cancer. With this background we selected pancreatic normal and tumor cells for this study and passaged them into animal tissue culture medium. Further staining was done using alkaline phosphatase and heamatoxilin staining. Blue to purple colored zones in undifferentiated pluripotent stem cells and clear coloration in the chromatin material indicated pancreatic cells. Further studies on the cell surface marker CD 44 were done using ELISA. For this, the protein was extracted from cultivated normal and t

سرطان البنكرياس هو مرض ذو معدل وفيات مرتفع، ولا يزال التشخيص المبكر لسرطان البنكرياس يمثل تحديًا. يظل معدل البقاء النسبي لمدة 5 سنوات أقل من 8%، والاستراتيجيات العلاجية غير فعالة في زيادة معدلات بقاء المريض على قيد الحياة. في خلايا سرطان البنكرياس، ارتبطت مقاومة العلاج بالتغيرات الجينية التي تؤدي إلى ظهور مسارات خلوية شاذة؛ ولذلك، هناك ما يبرر ايجاد استراتيجيات جديدة لعلاج هذا المرض. هنا، سعينا لاستكشاف

To determine the relationship between Helicobacter pylori infection and skin disorders, sixty six patients who suffering from skin diseases include chronic urticarial (CU) and atopic dermatitis (AD) who attended at Dermatological Clinic/ Al-Numan Teaching Hospital from the beginning of October 2015 to the end of January 2016 with age (6-62) have been investigated and compared to twenty two samples of apparently healthy individuals were studied as control group. All the studied groups were subjected to measurement of antiHelicobacter pylori IgG antibodies by enzyme linked immuno sorbent assay (ELISA) and detection of 16S rRNA and CagA genes by using singleplex and multiplex PCR methods. The results of current study revealed that there was a

A total of 13 samples of domestic cat Felis cattus (Linnaeus, 1758 ) and 9 samples of wild cat Felis chaus furax (de Winton, 1898) of the Felidae Family were trapped and examined to detect the hard ticks. The areas of the collection were: Baghdad, Al-Rashidiya, Tharthar, Nahrawan, AL-Mahmoudiya (middle of Iraq) and AL-Haretha (south of Iraq), Mosul (north of Iraq). The results of the current study revealed that four species belong to two genera of hard ticks: Haemaphysalis sp. (Koch, 1844), Rhipicephalus turanicus (Morel, 1969), Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Neumann, 1904) and Rhipicephalus appendiculatus (Santos, 1955). The rates and the density of infestation were discussed. The current study aimed to clarify the infestation differe

A total of sixty raw milk samples were collected from (street vendors and shops) from Baghdad city, Iraq. The samples were inoculated into peptone water and, then, subcultured onto MacConkey agar and Blood agar. Identification of isolates was confirmed by microscopic examination, cultural characteristic, biochemical tests, Vitek (VITEK®2 system), and Biolog GN substrate reactions followed by 16S rRNA and specific genes sequencing. Of 60 raw cow’s milk samples, Providencia spp. were identified only in 4 samples (6.67%) and P. rettgeri was the most common, 2/4 (50%), followed by P. stuartii and P. vermicola, 1/4 (25%). Antimicrobial susceptibility tests were conducted against ten antibiotics by the disc diffusion method. All Provid