Background: The emergence of multiple drug resistant (MDR) Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.TB) and extensive drug resistant (XDR) M.TB lay huge burden on TB endemic countries such as Iraq.
Objectives: Bacteriophage (phage) therapy can be used as alternative approach to tackle this problem. Patients and methods: Forty isolates of M.TB were cultured from TB-positive sputum specimens with three ATCC strains. Phage passaging and biokinetic based techniques were used to optimize wild anti-M.TB phages. Three chemical, non genetic- designing techniques, tween-80, mycobacterial lysis buffer, and xyelen, were used to change the specificity of wild anti-TB phages towards phage-resistant target M.TB.
Results: Five wild anti-M.TB phages were iso

Antibiotics resistant bacteria have become a global problem as a result of the unprogrammed use of antibiotics, resulting in bacterial strains resistant to many antibiotics, or to all available antibiotics. Plants are a good source of primary and secondary metabolites that have a major role in reducing silver nitrate to silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). The production of these nanoparticles were carried out by using aqueous extract of Carthamus oxycantha M.Bieb. This can be verified by color change of the reaction solution from yellow to dark brown because of the excitation of the surface plasmon resonance. AgNPs were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, where they recorded the peak at 420 nm. Fourier Transformation-infrared (FTIR)

Sheep are considered as an important part of livestock in the worldwide, particularly in Iraq, as they provide meat, milk, leather, wool, and manure. The present study aim is isolation and identification of staphylococci, enteric bacteria and Pseudomonas spp. Totally, 115 samples were collected from sheep (100 samples were collected from the nasal cavity of local sheep suffering from respiratory infections, and 15 samples were collected from apparently healthy local sheep). All the samples were collected from seven flocks located in Abu Ghraib and Al-Radwaniyah, Baghdad governorate, Iraq. The samples were taken during the period from October 2020 to February 2021. Staphylococcus spp., Pseudomonas spp., and enteric bacteria were detected fi

The aim of this study was to evaluate the possibility of using Staphylococcus epidermidis cells as a probiotic to treat some skin infections. For this purpose, S. epidermidis Y73, which is an active bacteriocin producer and non-biofilm forming isolate, was selected among 134 skin isolates through primary and secondary screening. Tryptic soya broth was selected as the best medium to support bacteriocin production, while the optimal pH and temperature for S. epidermidis Y73 growth were 7 and 37°C, respectively, which were invested in the formula preparation. Furthermore, the possibility of using this isolate as a probiotic was investigated by preparing 4 potential cellulosic pads with 4 different formulae whic

Klebsiella pneumoniae is one of common hospital-acquired bacteria causing nosocomial pneumonia, urinary tract infections, and intra-abdominal infections. The aim of this study is investigating the Modulation effect of Zinc Oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) against multidrug resistant K. pneumonia which was isolated from Respiratory Tract Infections (RTIs). The results of isolation and characterization of bacterial specimens showed that 20.81% of RTIs were Klebsiella pneumoniae. The strongest isolate showed resistant for most usable antibiotics selected. Simultaneously, ZnO NPs were produced by an aqueous extract of Green Tea leaves as a reducing and stabilizer agent. The Ultraviolet-Visible (UV-Vis) spectrum was indicated a successful produc

In this search, a new pyrophosphate technique was proved. The technique was employed to single- nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), which diagnosis using a one-base extension reaction. Three Mycobacterium tuberculosis genes were chosen (Rpob, InhA, KatG) genes. Fifty-four specimens were used in this study fifty-three proved as drug-resistant specimens by The Iraqi Institute of Chest and Respiratory Diseases in Baghdad.; also one specimen was used as a negative control. The steps of this technique were by used a specific primer within each aliquot that has a short 3-OH end of the base of the target gene that was hybridized to the single-stranded DNA template. Then, the Taq polymerase enzyme and one of either α-thio-dATP, dTTP, dGTP, or dCTP

Pigeons have accompanied humans since ancient time because they are used as a source of food, pets, hobby, and religious symbols. Pigeons have shown high prevalence rate of infection with gastrointestinal helminths and protozoan. This study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of parasitic infections in the domestic pigeon (Columba livia domestica) from October, 2017 to April, 2018, purchased from bird market of Zakho City, Kurdistan region. The samples were taken from 50 adult pigeons (28 males and 22 females). The birds were transferred to Parasitology Laboratory, Faculty of Science, Zakho University. In the laboratory, each bird was sacrificed and immediately the feather and skin of under wings, chest and the rest of the

Objective: to identify the secondary school adolescent's obesity, and to find out the relationship between
adolescents obesity characteristics and their family history.
Methodology: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 537 adolescents (270 boys and 267 girls) aged 12-15
years selected by means of a multistage stratified random sampling technique.
Results: the prevalence of obesity among adolescents was 22.3%. (55.8%) of the obese adolescents were male,
(42.5%) their age is (13) years old, and (79.2%) of them coming from middle level of socio economic status score.
There are a significant relationship between obese adolescents and their family history of obesity which indicated
that obese father, and obese br

Thirty one  samples of gum swabs were collected from patients with tooth caries (5-30 years old)  from the College of Science (Biology department )- University of Baghdad- Iraq for the period from October 2018 to December 2018. , The samples were transported, after inoculation in a transport media (nutrient broth), to the laboratory of the College of Science and then cultured on mannitol salt agar and  blood agar). The isolates belonging to Staphylococcus spp. were identified by biochemical tests and Vitek 2 compact system, while the more antibiotic resistant isolates were identified by using Polymerase Chain Reaction(ï´¾PCR)  and sequencing of 16SrRNA . The results showed sharp UV absorption peaks at 330 - 340nm and AFM at 5

Thirty one  samples of gum swabs were collected from patients with tooth caries (5-30 years old)  from the College of Science (Biology department )- University of Baghdad- Iraq for the period from October 2018 to December 2018. , The samples were transported, after inoculation in a transport media (nutrient broth), to the laboratory of the College of Science and then cultured on mannitol salt agar and  blood agar). The isolates belonging to Staphylococcus spp. were identified by biochemical tests and Vitek 2 compact system, while the more antibiotic resistant isolates were identified by using Polymerase Chain Reaction(ï´¾PCR)  and sequencing of 16SrRNA . The results showed sharp UV absorption peaks at 330