Background: Enterococcus faecalis is a causative agent for urinary tract infections (UTIs) in Iraq and worldwide, even though it is a commensal bacterium in human and animal intestines. It can cause different illnesses due to its ability to produce various virulence factors. A pore-forming toxin (cytolysin) is the most virulence factor in this bacterium. Objective: This study aims to molecularly investigate the frequency of cytolysin toxin among E. faecalis isolated from UTIs. Methods: A hundred and eighty urine specimens were collected from females diagnosed with UTIs. Traditional laboratory and molecular methods were used for bacterial identification and toxin detection using a modified DNA extraction method. Results: The findings revealed that 27.7% (50\180) of causative agents in UTIs were E. faecalis based on the molecular technique that targeted a housekeeping gene (ddI) with specific primers using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Most of the isolates harboured the cytolysin toxin gene (cylLL) with a frequency rate of 92% (46\50). Conclusions: A considerable prevalence of cytolysin-positive isolates in UTIs, which is a worrying indicates of the extensive spreading of a toxic strain in UTIs. The modified method for DNA extraction in gene detection was successfully used to amplify a housekeeping gene (ddI) and a virulence gene (cylLL) for cytolysin toxin detection, and this approach can be utilised for rapid bacterial identification and gene detection in medical and research purposes with a large sample size in an inexpensive manner within a short time.
One hundred isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were obtained from patients admitted to Baghdad hospitals, Iraq during the period between May 2018 until July 2018. These isolates were distributed as 15 isolates from blood, 25 isolates from urinary tract infections, 10 isolates from sputum, 12 isolates from wounds, 15 isolates from ear infections, 15 isolates from bronchial wash of patients suffering from respiratory tract infections in addition to 8 isolates from cystic fibrosis patients. The isolates were initially identified by culturing on MacConkey agar, blood agar and P. aeruginosa agar then diagnosed by performing some morphological and biochemical tests. The second diagnosis was done by API 20E system followed by Vitek 2 compact syste
... Show MoreBackground: Candida albicans is the principal fungal infectious agent in human infection. Adhesion is thought to be an essential step for colonization and establishment of Candida infections.
Objectives: Identification and comparison of ALS1 virulence gene of adhesion family among different isolates of Candida albicans by PCR.
Patients and methods: One hundred eight samples were collected from different group of Iraqi patients. All samples were culture on Sabouraud′s agar, CHROMagar for identification while API Candida kit confirmatory test and extracted DNA was done for just Candida albicans isolates, detected the ALS1 gene, extracted RNA for synthesis of cDNA and detected of gene and compare between iso
Background: Successful root canal therapy depends on thorough chemo mechanical debridement of pulpal tissue, dentin debris and infective microorganisms. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the antibacterial effect of silver nanoparticles, sodium hypochlorite and chlorhexidine in reducing the bacterial infection of the root canals. Materials and Methods: The root canals of 55 single-rooted teeth were cleaned, shaped, and sterilized. All the teeth samples were inoculated with Enterococcus faecalis and incubated at 37°C for 2 weeks. Then, the teeth were divided into four groups. Group I (n=15): 100 ppm silver nanoparticles, Group II (n=15): 2.5 sodium hypochlorite, Group III (n=15): 2% chlorhexidine, IV (n=10): Normal saline as a contr
... Show MoreBackground: One of the most dominant bacterial infections is urinary tract infection (UTI), both in the community and in the hospital settings Since drug resistance become one of the predominant problems of health worldwide, it is necessary to use new methods to overcome drug-resistant bacteria. In this regard, medicinal plants (Medicago sativa ) are considered one of the richest sources to produce antibiotics.
Aim of the study: evaluate the antibacterial effect of the fraction of ethyl acetate of Medicago Sativa extract against Escherichia Coli isolated from urine samples of patients with urinary tract infections.
Material and methods:
... Show MoreBackground: Legionella pneumophila (L. pneumophila) is gram-negative bacterium, which causes Legionnaires’ disease as well as Pontiac fever. Objective: To determine the frequency of Legionella pneumophila in pneumonic patients, to determine the clinical utility of diagnosing Legionella pneumonia by urinary antigen testing (LPUAT) in terms of sensitivity and specificity, to compares the results obtained from patients by urinary antigen test with q Real Time PCR (RT PCR) using serum samples and to determine the frequency of serogroup 1 and other serogroups of L. pneumophila. Methods: A total of 100 pneumonic patients (community acquired pneumonia) were enrolled in this study during a period between October 2016 to April 2017; 92 sam
... Show MoreUrinary tract infection (UTI) is a considerable problem aecting the health of people each year. It is caused by various Gram-positive (G+ve) and Gram-negative (G-ve) pathogens. It is an important illness in the world aecting all age groups across their life span. Objectives: To identify the most common aerobic bacteria that cause UTIs and their antibiotic susceptibility and antimicrobial activity of plant extracts of the males' patients. Materials and methods: The study involved 35 midstream urine samples from the male students (University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq) with suspicious symptoms of UTI, during the period from January-March 2018. Each urine sample was cultured rst on Mannitol Salt Agar and MacConkey agar plates to dierentiate
... Show MoreOne of the most important problems confronts hospitals is the strains emergence of Enterococcus spp. with multiple resistance to antibiotics, which propel researchers to modify or produce new antibiotics or combination between two antibiotics so that to be more effective against Enterococcus . This study was aimed to susceptibility some of local Enterococcus spp. Isolates with of 21 antibiotic using disc diffusion method. The results showed absolute resistant 100% toward (Cephalexin , Gentamycin , Amikacin ,Erythromycin and Nalidixic acid), while showed a high sensitivity toward (Vancomycin and Impenem ) at percentage of 92.3% for each . Also highl
... Show Morethe study including isolation and identification of candida spp causing UTIs from patintes coming to al-yarmouk hospital