This study focused on the synthesis of chitosan-alginate (CH-ALg) nanoparticles by ionotropic gelation technique using sodium alginate and calcium chloride. The particle size of the synthesized nanoparticles was confirmed by atomic force microscope (AFM) and it was 61.9 nm. While the nature of functional groups present in chitosan nanoparticles was determined by FT-IR analysis. The antibacterial activity of chitosan-alginate was tested against multidrug resistance (MDR) gram- positive (Enterococcus faecalis) and gram-negative (Proteus mirabilis) bacteria. The results showed a significant effect against MDR isolates. The nanoparticles were loaded with the antibiotic doxycycline in order to improve the antibacterial activity and drug delivery efficiency. The synergistic effects of the biosynthesized chitosan-alginate and the loaded doxycycline at different concentrations against MDR bacteria were also investigated. The results showed that doxycycline-loaded nanoparticles have superior effectiveness compared to native doxycycline against gram negative and gram positive bacteria.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a Gram-negative opportunistic pathogen and a model bacterium for studying virulence and bacterial social traits. While it can be isolated in low numbers from a wide variety of environments including soil and water, it can readily be found in almost any human/animal-impacted environment. It is a major cause of illness and death in humans with immunosuppressive and chronic conditions, and infections in these patients are difficult to treat due to a number of antibiotic resistance mechanisms and the organism’s propensity to form multicellular biofilms. One hundred twenty clinical samples and forty hospital environmental samples (various sources) were collected from hospitals in Baghdad city during the period from Oc
... Show MoreThis study included collection of 100 specimens from patients in AL-Kindy Teaching Hospital and teaching laboratories of Medical City Hospitals in Baghdad during the period from August to December 2012 ,these specimens differed in their sources which included 19 nasal swab, 16 wound swab,27 burn swab, 7 pus, 15 sputum, 10 corneal swab and 6 urine . Only 38 (38%) isolates was identified as Staphylococcus. In this study, 29 isolates (76.3%) were coagulase-positive (COPS), while only 9 isolates(23.6%) were coagulase negative (CONS), from total 38 isolates of Staphylococci.
The distribution of Methicillin resistance among Staphylococcus spp. was investigated by disc diffusion method. In this study, 21 isolates (55.26%) showed resistant to
Hypothyroidism is a condition in which thyroid hormones levels decreased in the blood. These hormones are necessary for energy production and body viability. In many occasions this condition is accompanied or followed by different metabolic disorders. The current study is conducted in the "Specialized center for endocrinology and diabetes" and carried on 70 hypothyroid patients and 60 randomly chosen individuals with normal thyroid function .Both groups were submitted to laboratory tests to evaluate thyroid function (T3,T4.TSH). The study involved evaluation of the relationship between hypothyroidism and insulin resistance (IR) . Health problem related to many diseases , became common lately. Insulin resistance diagnosed through
... Show MoreBackground: During Ramadan, Muslims fast throughout daylight hours. There is a direct link between fasting and increasing incidence of infections. Antibiotic usage for treatment of infections should be based on accurate diagnosis, with the correct dose and dosing regimen for the shortest period to avoid bacterial resistance. This study aimed to evaluate the practices of physicians in prescribing suitable antibiotics for fasting patients and the compliance of the patients in using such antibiotics at regular intervals. Materials and methods: An observational study was carried out during the middle 10 days of Ramadan 2014 in two pharmacies at Baghdad. A total of 34 prescriptions (Rx) for adults who suffered from infections were examined. For
... Show MoreMRSA is one of the major pathogens in hospitals and the community, which have the ability to produce biofilm as a virulence factor, the impact of chalcone on biofilm formation, the synergism effect of chalcone and antibiotic in both in vitro and in vivo experiments, the gene expression of virulence genes (srtA, fnbA, fnbB) before and after treatment of it on MRSA biofilm cells in vitro, all these were the prime aims of this study. Chalcone at MBIC (20 μg/ml), significantly reduced the biofilm formation to 21.45% and at sub MBIC (15 μg/ml) to 36.58 %. While, Chalcone at MIC(5 μg/ml) reduced MRSA planktonic cells to 49.61%. Susceptibility of MRSA isolates against eight antibiotics showed that all isolates were sensitive to vancomycin and n
... Show MoreCladophora and Spirulina algae biomass have been used for the removal of Tetracycline (TC) antibiotic from aqueous solution. Different operation conditions were varied in batch process, such as initial antibiotic concentration, different biomass dosage and type, contact time, agitation speed, and initial pH. The result showed that the maximum removal efficiencies by using 1.25 g/100 ml Cladophora and 0.5 g/100 ml Spirulina algae biomass were 95% and 94% respectively. At the optimum experimental condition of temperature 25°C, initial TC concentration 50 mg/l, contact time 2.5hr, agitation speed 200 rpm and pH 6.5. The characterization of Cladophora and Spirulina biomass by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) indicates that the presenc
... Show MoreAccording to the extraction procedure , Eucalyptus incrassata leave sample yielded 5% and 2% w/w(Based on dry leaves ) of the aqueous extract and essential oils respectively. Disk diffusion method was used to determine the antimicrobial activity of aqueous extract and essential oils of E . incrassata leaves against eight isolates of multidrug- resistant of Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus) . It was found that aqueous extract and essential oils have variable antimicrobial activity(the inhibition zone diameter ranged from 7 to 14 mm respectively ) , while essential oils showed more effect than aqueous extract . It was noticed that values of Minimal Inhibitory Concentration ( MIC ) for
... Show MoreUnder high concentrations of antibiotics, a fraction of the bacterial population exhibits a phenomenon known as persistence. Toxin- system (TA system) has been reported to be involved in the formation of E. coli, Mycobacterium, and S. aureus persisters. In this study, the ability of thirty Iraqi isolates of MRSA to form in vitro persister cells after exposure to three different antibiotics (Ceftriaxone 30 µg, Mecillinam 10 µg, and Mupirocin 20 µg) was examined by TD test. Additionally, efflux pump inhibitor [Fluphenazine 0.25 mg/ml] was combined with the antibiotic that triggered persister formation. The distribution of mazEF and yefM-yoeB (Type II TA system) in the tested isolates was detected by PCR. 91% of Mupirocin su
... Show MoreThe objective of this study was to investigate and find the relationships between human semen osmolality and oxidative stress with semen quality. Semen analysis was determined to evaluate semen quality and fertility. The concentration of semen malondialdehyde (MDA) was measured to assess oxidative stress. For this purpose, one hundred seventy healthy adult males were used in this study. The study was conducted from September 2018 to November 2019 in the Infertility care and in vitro fertilization center (IVF) and the Biology department of the College of Science at Salahaddin University in Erbil city. A significant positive correlation was observed between the total sperm motility, grade activity, and sperm motility index with semen osmol
... Show MoreCombination of natural poly-phenolic compounds with chemotherapeutic agents is recently being a novel strategy in cancer therapy researches owing to their potential antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that modulate several intracellular signaling pathways.
Resveratrol and Baicalein are well known poly-phenolic compounds that belong to stilbene and flavone subclasses, respectively.
This study aims to investigate the possible enhancement effect of resveratrol and Baicalein when combined with doxorubicin using a different combination ratio and applied on two cancer cell lines: HCT116 (colorectal cancer cells) and HepG2 (hepatocellular cancer cells). It also investigates the possibility of such natural compounds to p
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