Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global concern, especially in low- and middle-income countries, threatening food production, healthcare, and life expectancy. Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programs can optimize antibiotic use, improve patient outcomes, lower AMR, and save healthcare costs. This observational-retrospective study in Dhi Qar Governorate aimed to assess antimicrobial prescribing patterns in Al-Nasiriya public hospitals. Dhi Qar Health Directorate comprises ten hospitals, and only one hospital was excluded from the study. The study used data from antibiotic stewardship committees, including antibiogram, antibiotic, and meropenem surveys, hospital pharmacies’ medical files, and the directorate statistics from 1/1/2023 to 1/10/2023. The number of patients undergoing antibiotic screening was 6090. Most patients (43.34%) were in the 18–49 years age range. Most cases of antibiotics' clinical indication were surgical procedures (41.82%), with cesarean sections being the most common (16.15%), followed by medical treatment (37.25%), with respiratory conditions (21.34%) being the most common. Most patients (99.72%) received empirical rather than targeted treatment, parenteral rather than oral treatment (98.93% were given parenteral antibiotics); more than half of patients (52.84%) were prescribed a combination of two or more antibiotics. Most cases (95.43%) in antibiotic screening were continued on the same dose without reviewing the antibiotic prescription after 48–72 hours. The treatment resulted in 87.75% healing, 53.57% discharge with antibiotic discontinuation, and a 1.21% death rate among patients. Metronidazole, ceftriaxone, meropenem, amoxicillin, and cefotaxime were the most frequently prescribed antibiotics. The data from hospital pharmacies’ medical files showed the consumption of 14 types of antibiotics within the WHO's Watch group and 18 within the Access group. The most antibiogram-isolated bacteria were E. coli (19.06%), Staphylococcus non-aureus spp. (18.74%), Staphylococcus aureus (11.26%), Klebsiella pneumonia (10.15%), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (7.88%). The antibiogram showed resistance to many antibiotics, and there was a significant difference in resistance distribution among the Access, Watch, and Reserve groups (P value = 0.024). Antibiotic practice showed empirical treatment with broad-spectrum antibiotics (most of which are in the WHO Watch group), limited culture and sensitivity testing, and limited antibiogram use, making monitoring antibiotic resistance hard.
Antibiotic resistance is the major growing threat facing the pharmacological treatment of bacterial infections. Therefore, bioprospecting the medicinal plants could provide potential sources for antimicrobial agents. Mimusops, the biggest and widely distributed plant genus of family Sapotaceae, is used in traditional medicines due to its promising pharmacological activities. This study was conducted to elucidate the antimicrobial effect of three unexplored Mimusops spp. (M. kummel, M. laurifolia and M. zeyheri). Furthermore, the mechanisms underlying such antibacterial activity were studied. The Mimusops leaf extracts revealed significant antibacterial activities against the five tested bacter
... Show MoreBackground: Oral diseases persist to be a major health problem all over the world. Various bacteria and fungi are found to be the possible pathogensresponsible for the oral diseases. Moringa oleifera it is an extraordinary nutritious vegetable tree with many different uses. These leaves have high medicinal value. In the present study, antibacterial and antifungal activities of aqueous extracts of plant Moringa oleifera in comparison to chlorohexidene gluconate and deionized water were determined. Materials and methods: The leaves of plant of Moringa oleifera were collected from College of Pharmacy; Baghdad, Iraq. Tested microorganism (bacterial and fungal) was isolated from different clinical specimens. In-vitroantimicrobial activity was pe
... Show MoreMetal and metal oxide NPs have shown to be perfectly synthesized by using plant extracts with high efficiency, low cost and low toxicity. Our goal was to synthesize ZnO NPs by using an extract of pomegranate seeds and investigate the anticorrosion, antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of the synthesized ZnO NPs. The results have shown that the use of pomegranate in the green synthesis of ZnO NPs gave a good yield, with a low cost and non-toxic approach. The electrophoretic deposition (EPD) was used to coat stainless steel (S.S) by synthesized ZnO NPs in an alcoholic solution at room temperature producing a good coating against corrosion. The corrosion properties were investigated in a saline solution and a temperature range of (293–32
... Show MoreLignans are natural products widely distributed in the plant kingdom. They are composed of two β-β-linked phenylpropane (shikimate-derived biogenetic subunits). Although the backbone of lignans is composed of phenylpropane units, there is enormous diversity in the structure of lignans leading to different classes of lignans, such as γ-butyrolactone derivatives, eg. Hymatairesinol, bicyclooctadiene derivatives, e.g. pinoresinol, tetrahydrofuran derivatives e.g.lariciresinol, di-arylbutandiol derivatives, e.g. secoisolariciresinol. Introduction of a further carbon –carbon linkage leads to a class of lignans collectively known as cyclolignans such as tetrahydro-naphthalene derivatives, for example podophyllotoxin. Lignans ha
... Show MoreA retrospective study is conducted to identify factors that improve prospective animal studies; contribute to the optimization of animal protection from all unnecessary and preventable damage. Preclinical oral histology research from 2010-2020 is evaluated and 64 studies were reviewed relating to two interventions: bone trauma and surgical incision. The harm-benefit analysis is featured in this study through the application of the recent form of Bateson's Cube. Depending on its three axes, we can assess animal suffering, the likelihood of benefit, and the importance of research. The total number of animals used in the research is 2685. Rats, 51.6%, and rabbits, 48.4%, are the most commonly used animals. Research related to bone healing acco
... Show MoreThe investment budget represents a stage of the investment decision in service units, and the preparation and implementation needs to be a complement of the same planning part, because the planning does not end with the development of the plan, but includes a follow-up implementation, so it has to be effective and efficient oversight of the estimates and procedures for disbursement of funds approved for investment projects, The problem with research in that local governments suffer from the presence of Allkaat and problems facing the implementation of the investment budget projects due to the adoption budget items which can not be measured the efficiency of the performance of these units of government by, and shortcomings in the control
... Show MoreMoringa oleifera L. and red pomegranate extracts have been reported to inhibit gram-positive facultative anaerobe growth and inhibit the formation of biofilm on tooth surfaces. The current study aimed to assess the antibacterial effect of M. oleifera L. and red pomegranate extracts and their combinations against Porphyromonas gingivalis. The antimicrobial sensitivity, minimum inhibition concentrations (MIC), and minimum bactericidal concentrations after treatment with the aqueous extracts of M. oleifera L. and red pomegranate as well as their combination against clinically isolated P. gingivalis were determined using agar well diffusion and two-fold serial dilution. The anti-biofilm activity of the extracts and their combination was evaluat
... Show MoreNon-thermal (low-temperature) plasma may act as an alternative approach to control superficial wound and skin infections when the effectiveness of chemical agents is weak due to natural pathogen or biofilm resistance. In this paper an atmospheric pressure plasma needle jet device which generates a cold plasma jet is used to measure the effectiveness of plasma treatment against different pathogenic bacteria and to test the individual susceptibility of pathogenic bacteria to non-thermal argon plasma. It is found that, Gram-negative bacteria were more susceptible to plasma treatment than Gram-positive bacteria. For the Gram-negative bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa, there were no survivors among the initial 1x108C.F.U (Co
... Show More