Background: In December 2019, an episode of COVID-19 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV2) was reported in Wuhan, China and has spread around the world, increasing the number of contagions. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) are common herpesviruses that can cause persistent latent infections and affect the developing immune system.The study was conducted to explore the prevalence and reactivation of CMV and EBV antibodies in COVID-19 patients group in comparison to healthy group and to investigate the association between the presence of these viruses with each of severity of disease and oral hygiene. Materials and Methods: Eighty Five subjects were participated in this case control study (50 patients with COVID-19 and 35 healthy controls), their age range from 18 to 77 years. Oral health status was established by oral hygiene index. Serum obtained from patients and controls was analyzed using ELISA to assess levels of anti- CMV and anti- EBV antibodies. Results: The study revealed that the mean of anti-EBV IgG in patients was significantly elevated (p<0.01) than that in controls. Otherwise, there was no significant difference (p>0.05) in levels of anti- EBV IgM, anti- CMV IgG and IgM between two groups (P>0.05). In addition there were no significant differences between patients and controls (p>0.05) in the number and percentage of anti-EBV and anti-CMV antibodies. Interestingly, there was a significant increase in the level of anti-CMV IgM in severe cases as compared to mild cases, (P<0.01). Furthermore, these results revealed that there were no significant differences (P>0.05) in levels of anti-viral antibodies in patients with good oral hygiene compared to patients with poor oral hygiene. Conclusions: Higher frequency of anti-EBV IgG among patients indicates that latent infection is more common in COVID-19 patients. While an increased percentage of anti-CMV IgM indicated reactivation of latent infection and is related to disease severity suggesting that COVID-19 can cause cellular immune impairment.
Background: For decades, the use of naturally accessible materials in treating human disease has been widespread. The goal of this study was to determine the anti-fungal effectiveness /of the lemongrass essential oil (LGEO) versus Candida albicans (C. albicans) adhesion to polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) materials. Material and methods: LGEO's anti-fungal activity was tested against C. albicans adhesion using the following concentration of LGEO in PMMA monomer (2.5 vol. %, 5 vol. % LGEO) selected from the pilot study as the best two effective concentrations. A total of 40 specimens were fabricated for the candida adherence test and were subdivided into four equal groups: negative control 0 vol. % addition, experimental with 2.5 vol. % and
... Show MoreBackground: The healing process involves the restoration of the body’s structural integrity. The extracellular matrix, blood cells, cytokines, and growth factors are all involved in this dynamic, intricate, multicellular process. Hemostasis, the inflammatory phase, the proliferative phase, and the maturation phase are all included. Opuntia ficus-indica oil (OFI) and Punica grantum (PGS) oil are extensively used natural treatments that are regarded as advantageous for their sedative, spasmolytic, and anti-inflammatory properties, as well as for angiogenesis promotion, fibroblast increase, collagen production and deposition, and extracellular-matrix remodeling. Materials and methods: Twenty-four New Zealand rab
... Show MoreThis work investigates experimentally the effect of using a skirt with a square foundation of 100 mm width resting on dry gypseous soil (i.e., loose soil with 33% relative density), and subjected to an inclined load. Previous works did not study the use square skirted foundation rested on gypseous soil and subjected to inclined load. The investigated soil was brought from Tikrit city with 59% gypsum content. Standard physical and chemical tests on selected soil were carried out. Model laboratory tests were carried out to determine the effect of using a skirt with a square foundation on the load-settlement behavior of gypseous soil and subjected to inclined load with various Skirt depth (Ds) to foundation width (B) ratio
... Show MoreBiologically active natural compounds are molecules produced by plants or plant-related microbes, such as endophytes. Many of these metabolites have a wide range of antimicrobial activities and other pharmaceutical properties. This study aimed to evaluate (in vitro) the antifungal activities of the secondary metabolites obtained from Paecilomyces sp. against the pathogenic fungus Rhizoctonia solani. The endophytic fungus Paecilomyces was isolated from Moringa oleifera leaves and cultured on potato dextrose broth for the production of the fungal metabolites. The activity of Paecilomyces filtrate against the radial growth of Rhizoctonia solani was tested by mixing the filtrate with potato dextrose agar medium at concentrations of 15%,
... Show MoreThe present study aims to detect CTX-M-type ESBL from Escherichia coli clinical isolates and to analyze their antibotic susceptibility patterns. One hundred of E. coli isolates were collected from different clinical samples from a tertiary hospital. ESBL positivity was determined by the disk diffusion method. PCR used for amplification of CTX-M-type ESBL produced by E. coli. Out of 100 E. coli isolates, twenty-four isolates (24%) were ESBL-producers. E. coli isolated from pus was the most frequent clinical specimen that produced ESBL (41.66%) followed by urine (34.21%), respiratory (22.23%), and blood (19.05%). After PCR amplification of these 24 isolates, 10 (41.66%) isolates were found to possess CTX-M genes. The CTX-M type ESBL
... Show MoreIn current article an easy and selective method is proposed for spectrophotometric estimation of metoclopramide (MCP) in pharmaceutical preparations using cloud point extraction (CPE) procedure. The method involved reaction between MCP with 1-Naphthol in alkali conditions using Triton X-114 to form a stable dark purple dye. The Beer’s law limit in the range 0.34-9 μg mL-1 of MCP with r =0.9959 (n=3) after optimization. The relative standard deviation (RSD) and percentage recoveries were 0.89 %, and (96.99–104.11%) respectively. As well, using surfactant cloud point extraction as a method to extract MCP was reinforced the extinction coefficient(ε) to 1.7333×105L/mol.cm in surfactant-rich phase. The small volume of organi
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