Leishmaniasis 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/L5.8S. PCR produced bands of ~359 bp and ~450 bp for B6 and ITS1, respectively. Digestion of ITS1 by RFLP revealed two distinct bands of ~150 bp and ~300 bp size. The results reviled that the two isolates belong to cutaneous Leishmaniasis, specifically Leishmania tropica. In conclusion, the confirmation of the studied methods will improve rapid and accurate diagnosis of Leishmania species of the most prevalent Iraqi strain of cutaneous leishmaniasis, L. tropica.
Methylotrophs bacteria are ubiquitous, and they have the ability to consume single carbon (C1) which makes them biological conversion machines. It is the first study to find facultative methylotrophic bacteria in contaminated soils in Iraq. Conventional PCR was employed to amplify MxaF that encodes methanol dehydrogenase enzyme. DNA templates were extracted from bacteria isolated from five contaminated sites in Basra. The gene specific PCR detected Methylorubrum extorquens as the most dominant species in these environments. The ability of M. extorquens to degrade aliphatic hydrocarbons compound was tested at the laboratory. Within 7 days, gas chromatographic (GC) studies of remaining utilize
... Show MoreDiarrhea is a real disease in childhood which could cause death. Therefore, this study was conducted to isolate Salmonella from 350 stool samples taken from children under five years in age, suffering from diarrhea during the period from March 2019 to March 2020 in Tikrit city / Iraq. The results showed the possibility to isolate ten isolates of Salmonella enterica subsp. Enterica, an infection rate, represents 2.875% of the total rate of patients who suffer from diarrhea. The virulence genes were investigated for ten isolates of S. enterica subsp. enterica, the result is that all isolates possessed the genes stn, invA, lpfA with an appearance percentage of 100%, whi
... Show MoreBackground: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) virus is a recognized important cause of congenital CMV infection which carries a significant risk for symptomatic disease and developmental defects in newborns. Its prevalence varies from place to other and time to time. This study is conducted to estimate its prevalence in Baghdad among infants suspected of having a congenital infection and to study the associated findings.
Subjects and Methods: The study was carried out in Al-Alwyia pediatrics teaching hospital. Data were collected, and blood samples were taken for infants suspected to have intrauterine infections over a period of one year, from 1 October 2019 to 1 October 2020. Immunoglobulin M (IgM) tests for CMV w
... Show MoreA 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
... Show MoreThe primary toxin class discovered in freshwater pufferfish is a category of neurotoxins called PSTs (Paralytic shellfish toxins) and pufferfish toxin has been observed to have biological, biochemical, and cytotoxic effects on cancer cell lines. Therefore, it is crucial to determine the cytotoxic activity, toxins present in the ovary of T. leiurus, and interaction between ligand (toxin compound) and receptors test. This study used the MTT method in the T47D cell lines, liquid chromatograph-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), and analysis of the molecular interaction using molecular docking. The ovary of T. leiurus had cytotoxicity on the T47D cell, having an IC50 value of 229.535 μg/ml, and generated a chroma
... Show MoreBack ground: Visceral leishmaniasis is endemic in the
middle and south of Iraq, it involves mostly infants. The
disease is observed mainly among rural areas that are far
from equipped medical centers. Therefore, there is a need
for anon- invasive, cost- effective, reliable, easily
available and fast method of diagnosis of this dngerous
disease.
Objective: The aim was to compare the validity and
predictive values of the recombinant K39 antigen (rK39)
test with that of the indirect fluorescent antibody test
(IFAT) test (the usual laboratory method) in the detection
of visceral leishmaniasis.
Methods: A Cross-sectional study was done in ALMansour Pediatric Hospital (in AL-Rusafa), and Central
Pediatric
Crop diseases are usually caused by inoculum of pathogens which might exist on alternate hosts or weeds as endophytes. These endophytes, cum pathogens, usually confer some beneficial attributes to these weeds or alternate hosts from protection against herbivores, disease resistance, stress tolerance to secondary metabolites production. This study was therefore carried out to isolate potential crop pathogens which exist as endophytes on weed species in the University of Ilorin plantations. Green asymptomatic leaves were collected from 10 weed species across the plantations, and processed for their endophytic fungi isolation. Isolates were purified into pure cultures and used for molecular identification using the internal transcribed spac
... Show MoreAntibiotic resistance is a problem of deep scientific concern both in hospital and community settings. Rapid detection in clinical laboratories is essential for the judicious recognition of antimicrobial resistant organisms. So, the growth of Uropathgenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) isolates with Multidrug-resistant (MDR) and Extensively Drug-resistant (XDR) profiles that thwart therapy for (UTIs) has been detected and has straight squeezed costs and extended hospital stays. This study aims to detect MDR- and XDR-UPEC isolates. Out of 42 UPEC clinical isolates were composed from UTI patients. The bacterial strains were recognized by standard laboratory protocols. Susceptibility to antibiotic was measured by the standard disk diffusi
... Show MoreSludge worm samples were collected from the Tigers River sediment during the period from November 2018 to June 2019 in Al Sarafiya District/ Baghdad- Iraq. Biometric morphological measurements focusing on the form of penis sheath and chaetal morphology were used for species identification, in addition to molecular analysis by amplification of conserved 18s rRNA encoding gene using ITS1 and ITS4 universal primers.According to the morphological measurement records, the results revealed the existence of Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri Claparede 1862, L. claparedeianus Ratzel, 1868 and L. cervix Brinkhurst 1963. Other two groups of specimens, with short penis sheath, were identified by molecular technology as L