In accordance with epidemic COVID-19, the elevated infection rates, disinfectant overuse and antibiotic misuse what led to immune suppression in most of the population in addition to genotypic and phenotypic alterations in the microorganisms, so a great need to reevaluate the genetic determinants that responsible for bacterial community (biofilm) has been raised. A total of 250 clinical specimens were obtained from patients in Baghdad hospitals and streaked on Mannitol salt agar medium. The results revealed that 156 isolates appeared as round yellow colonies, indicating that they were mostly identified as Staphylococcus aureus from 250 specimens. The antibiotic resistance pattern of the isolates for methicillin 37.17% (n=58), Amoxic

Background:SARS-CoV-2 infection has caused a global pandemic that continues to negatively impact human health. A large group of microbial domains including bacteria co-evolved and interacted in complex molecular pathogenesis along with SARS-CoV-2. Evidence suggests that periodontal disease bacteria are involved in COVID-19, and are associated with chronic inflammatory systemic diseases. This study was performed to investigate the association between bacterial loads of Porphyromonas gingivalis and pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Fifty patients with confirmed COVID-19 by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, their age ranges between 20-76 years, and 35 healthy volunteers (matched accordingly with age and sex to th

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:

Brucellosis is possess a significant public health problem in Baghdad. In this study, we investigated the potential role of the PCR assay in detection of Brucella species, from patients suspect to have brucellosis, using blood samples in both human and animal. To establish a PCR technique for diagnosis of active brucellosis in our samples, DNA extraction was carried out using a commercial kit, and a laboratory extraction procedure. PCR amplification was done using 1 set of primers: B4/B5 for Brucella species. Extraction of Brucella DNA using the commercial kit was successful. The laboratory extraction was successful and more economic. A total of 178 peripheral blood

Objectives: To identify the frequency and types of microsatellite instability among a group of sporadic CRC patients and to correlate the findings with clinicopathological characteristics. Methods: During an 8-month period, all patients with sporadic CRC who attended to two teaching hospitals in Baghdad, Iraq were recruited to this cross-sectional study regardless of age, sex, ethnicity, or tumor characteristics. Demographic, clinical, and histopathological features were recorded. DNA was extracted from FFPE-blocks of the resected tumors and normal tissues. PCR amplification of five microsatellite mononucleotide repeat loci (BAT25, BAT26, NR-21, NR-24, and MONO-27) and 2 pentanucleotide repeat control markers (Penta C and Pent

Background: Pain and the usage of local anesthetic agents are still real problem in pediatric dentistry, for these reasons, the use of minimal invasive dentistry (MID) in regard to the patient comfort is important especially for children, anxious and uncooperative patients. Chemomechanical caries removal (CMCR) methods involve the selective removal of the carious dentine hence it avoided the painful removal of the sound dentine and the anxiety resulted due to the vibration of the hand piece which is also decreased thus it appears to be more acceptable and comfortable to the patient. Aims of this study: This study was conducted among group of children to assess and compare the anxiety rating scale (during and after treatment) between the

Background: The oral cavity is considered as a complex ecological niche, its complex microbial community is reflected to it. Streptococcus mutans has been implicated as one of the major etiological factor of dental caries. Tooth surfaces colonized with Streptococcus mutans are at a higher risk for developing caries, while lactobacilli are considered as the secondary invaders, not initiators of the carious lesion. The main purpose of this study was to correlate the dental caries (for primary and permanent teeth) in the upper jaw with the streptococcus mutans and lactobacilli count in the dental plaque and saliva, also to correlate the dental caries (for primary and permanent teeth) in the lower jaw with the streptococcus mutans and lactobaci

Medulloblastomas and ependymomas are the most common malignant brain tumors in children. However genetic abnormalities associated with their development and prognosis remain unclear. Recently two gene fusions, KIAA1549–BRAF and SRGAP3–RAF1 have been detected in a number of brain tumours. We report here our development and validation of RT-RQPCR assays to detect various isoforms of these two fusion genes in formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissues of medulloblastoma and ependymoma. We examined these fusion genes in 44 paediatric brain tumours, 33 medulloblastomas and 11 ependymomas. We detected both fusion transcripts in 8/33, 5/33 SRGAP3 ex10/RAF1 ex10, and 3/33 KIAA1549 ex16/BRAF ex9, meduloblastomas but none in the 11 ep

A significant increase in the incidence of non-O157 verotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC) infections have become a serious health issues, and this situation is worsening due to the dissemination of plasmid mediated multidrug-resistant microorganisms worldwide. This study aims to investigate the presence of plasmid-mediated verotoxin gene in non-O157 E. coli. Standard microbiological techniques identified a total of 137 E. coli isolates. The plasmid was detected by Perfectprep Plasmid Mini preparation kit. These isolates were subjected to disk diffusion assay, and plasmid curing with ethidium bromide treatment. The plasmid containing isolates were subjected to a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for investigating