The prostaglandins inside inflamed tissues are produced by cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), making it an important target for improving anti-inflammatory medications over a long period. Adverse effects have been related to the traditional usage of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for the treatment of inflammation, mainly centered around gastrointestinal (GI) complications. The current research involves the creation of a virtual library of innovative molecules showing similar drug properties via a structure-based drug design. A library that includes five novel derivatives of Diclofenac was designed. Subsequently, molecular docking through the Glide module and determining the binding free energy implementing the Prime-MMGBSA module by the Schrödinger software package was used to identify compounds that showed marked specificity towards the COX-2 isoform. In addition, the ligands are subject to evaluation of their drug-like properties and ADMET (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity) characteristics using the QikProp module. Finally, molecular dynamics simulation has been calculated for the best molecule. The docking results indicated that all compounds own a predictive capability for specific binding to the COX-2 enzyme compared to the standard drug with a docking score range from -10.07 to -10.66 Kcal/mole, thus potentially overcoming the limitations imposed previously by the drugs currently used in clinical use. The ADMET analysis of the virtually active compounds demonstrated an acceptable drug-like profile and desirable pharmacokinetics properties. MM/GBSA calculation revealed that all the suggested compounds exhibited favorable free binding energies (-49.150 to - 60.185 Kcal/mole), indicating their strong potential to fit well into the COX-2 receptor. Finally, the MD simulation study revealed that compound 1 had perfect alignment with COX-2 receptor. The findings indicated that the compounds possess a predictive capability for specific binding to the COX-2 enzyme, thus potentially surmounting the restrictions imposed by the drugs currently employed in clinical use.
Opportunistic fungal infections due to the immune- compromised status of renal transplant patients are related to high rates of morbidity and mortality regardless of their minor incidence. Delayed in identification of invasive fungal infections (IFIs), will lead to delayed treatment and results in high mortality in those populations. The study aimed to assess the frequency of invasive fungal infection in kidney transplant recipients by conventional and molecular methods. This study included 100 kidney transplant recipients (KTR) (75 males, and 25 females), collected from the Centre of Kidney Diseases and Transplantation in the Medical City of Baghdad. Blood samples were collected during the period from June 2018 to April 2019. Twent
... Show MoreThe feline calicivirus (FCV) is a highly contagious and infectious virus that infects cats and causes moderate to stringent respiratory infections and oropharyngeal illness. It is prevalent in shelters and birthplace colonies and frequently infects kitten cats. 50 distinct cats were involved in the research, with samples acquired between October 2020 and January 2021. Swabs were taken from the oropharynx and conjunctiva, conditional on the signs of FCV disease septicity, to inspect viral nucleic acid from collecting samples, then extract the RNA from the swabs and turn it into a cDNA particle, and finally distinguishing the open reading frame nucleic acid gene 2 using a primer special for feline calicivirus, All specimens were taken
... Show MoreMycobacterium tuberculosis resistance to rifampicin is mainly mediated through mutations in the rpoB gene. The effects of rpoB mutations are relieved by secondary mutations in rpoA or rpoC genes. This study aims to identify mutations in rpoB, rpoA, and rpoC genes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates and clarify their contribution to rifampicin resistance. Seventy isolates were identified by acid-fast bacilli smear, Genexpert assay, and growth on Lowenstein Jensen medium. Drug susceptibility, testing was performed by the proportional method. DNA extraction, PCR, and sequencing were accomplished for the entire rpoA, rpoB, and
... Show MoreBackground: The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) relates to the torch virus family and is believed to have a substantial impact on mortality and perinatal events, as shown by epidemiological and viral studies. Moreover, there have been documented cases of EBV transmission occurring via the placenta. Nevertheless, the specific location of the EBV infection inside the placenta remains uncertain. Methods: The genomic sequences connected to the latent EBV gene and the levels of lytic EBV gene expression in placental chorionic villous cells are examined in this work. A total of 86 placentas from patients who had miscarriage and 54 placentas from individuals who had successful births were obtained for analysis. Results: The research employed QPCR to dete
... Show MoreRecalcitrant adventitious root (AR) development is a major hurdle in propagating commercially important woody plants. Although significant progress has been made to identify genes involved in subsequent steps of AR development, the molecular basis of differences in apparent recalcitrance to form AR between easy-to-root and difficult-to-root genotypes remains unknown. To address this, we generated cambium tissue-specific transcriptomic data from stem cuttings of hybrid aspen, T89 (difficult-to-root) and hybrid poplar OP42 (easy-to-root), and used transgenic approaches to verify the role of several transcription factors in the control of adventitious rooting. Increased peroxidase activity was positively correlated with better rooting. We foun
... Show MoreLeishmaniasis is a group of parasitic diseases caused by Leishmania spp., an endemic infectious agent in developing countries, including Iraq. Diagnosis of cutaneous lesion by stained smears, serology or histopathology are inaccurate and unable to detect the species of Leishmania. Here, two molecular typing methods were examined to identify the promastigotes of suspected cutaneous leishmaniasis samples, on a species level. The first was species-specific B6-PCR and the second was ITS1-PCR followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) using restriction enzyme HaeIII. DNA was extracted from in vitro promastigote culture followed by amplification of kDNA by B6 or amplification and digestion of LITSR/L
... Show MoreCarnosol, a phenolic diterpene, is one of the effective anticancer agents naturally occurring in rosemary, sage, parsley, and oregano. The chemoresistance problem increased with the routinely used chemotherapy. Therefore, the efforts to find a substitute with safe and low cost have become crucial worldwide. The current study attempts to inspect the anticancer molecular mechanisms of Carnosol on modulating up- and down- regulation of multiple genetic carcinogenesis pathways. The cytotoxicity of Carnosol on Hela cells was evaluated by MTS assay. Flow cytometry was used to assess apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. The apoptotic morphological changes were obvious by dual apoptosis assay. The differential gene expression after treatment wi
... Show MoreCongenital adrenal hyperplasia is a group of autosomal recessive disorders. The most frequent one is 21-hydroxylase deficiency. Analyzing