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 the patients) participated in this case control study. Oral hygiene status was determined by the simplified oral hygiene index. Blood and saliva samples were obtained from patients and controls, Porphyromonas gingivalis quantification from extracted DNA of blood and saliva samples performed by means of real-time polymerase chain reaction. The present result revealed that the quantity of salivary Porphyromonas gingivalis was significantly higher (p=0.003) in the patients’ group than in the controls group, while there was no significant difference in the number of bacteria in the blood samples between the two groups. Moreover, the number of bacteria in severe cases was higher than that in moderate and mild with no significant differences, and there was a significant increase in the number of bacteria among patients with poor oral hygiene compared to patients with good oral hygiene. This study demonstrated that the high level of salivary Porphyromonas gingivalis in patients increases in number with disease severity, which may indicate that bacterial infections contribute to the spread of the disease.
Type-1 diabetes is defined as destruction of pancreatic beta cell, virus and bacteria are some environmental factor for this disease. The study included 25 patients with type-1 diabetes mellitus aged between 8 – 25 years from Baghdad hospital and 20 healthy persons as control group. Anti-rubella IgG and IgM, anti-Chlamydia pneumonia IgG and IgM were measured by ELISA technique while anti-CMV antibody were measured by immunofluorescence technique. The aim of current study was to know the trigger factor for type-1 diabetes. There were significant differences (P<0.05) between studied groups according to parameters and the results lead to suggest that Chlamydia pneumonia, CMV and rubella virus may trigger type-1 diabetes mellitus in Iraqi pat
... Show MoreCytokines and chemokines are small-secreted proteins involved in many aspects of cell development, differentiation, and activation functions. A prominent characteristic of these molecules is their effect on the immune system in relation to the development of cell trafficking and immune tissues and organs. Furthermore, they play an important role in initiating and coordinating the organized and sequential recruitment and activation of cells into Mycobacterium tuberculosis-infected lungs. We aimed to evaluate the levels of interleukin -17 (IL-17) and the chemotactic chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 5 (CCL5) in the sera of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients. About 90 subjects were included, involving 5
... Show MoreThe study aims to identify the degree of appreciation for the level of digital citizenship of a sample of Palestinian university students in the governorates of Gaza, and its relationship to the level of health awareness about the emerging coronavirus (covid-19). To achieve the objectives of the study, the researcher followed a descriptive approach by applying two questionnaires; the first, which consists of 30 items, was used to measure the level of digital citizenship. The second, which consists of 19 items, was used to measure the level of health awareness. Both questionnaires were applied on a sample of 367 students who were electronically selected using the manner simple randomness. Results have shown that the degr
... Show MoreFourteen morphologically varied Ricinus communis L. seeds were collected from different localities in Egypt, El-Sudan and Saudi Arabia. Seed morphology and ITS barcoding analysis were performed to assess their diversity and phylogenetic relationship. Sequence’s alignment of nrITS region from different accessions display high levels of genetic similarities. Cluster analysis could not group different accessions according to their geographical distribution. Nevertheless, the genetic barcodes are interestingly matched with the morphological features of the Ricinus seeds. In conclusion, seed morphology proved to be a valuable tool in evaluating biodiversity and phylogenetic relationship in plant species with different loca
... Show MoreBackground: Breast Cancer is the most common malignancy among the Iraqi population; the majority of cases are still diagnosed at advanced stages with poor prospects of cure. Early detection through promoting public awareness is one of the promising tools in its control. Objectives: To evaluate the baseline needs for breast cancer awareness in Iraq through exploring level of knowledge, beliefs and behavior towards the disease and highlighting barriers to screening among a sample of Iraqi women complaining of breast cancer. Methodology: Two-hundred samples were enrolled in this study; gathered from the National
One hundred and seventy-six cases of suspected meningitis (SMN) were included in a cross-sectional study. Their ages ranged from less than 1 year to 80 years, of whom 44.3% were male. The aim was to assess bacterial meningitis (BMN) in terms of incidence and types of causative bacteria. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens were collected and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis was conducted with universal primers designed to amplify a DNA fragment (996 bp) of the 16S rRNA gene of eubacteria. Resolving PCR products in agarose-gel electrophoresis revealed that 37.5% of CSF specimens were PCR positive, while 62.5% of CSF specimens showed no band and were considered PCR-negative. Eighty percent of the latter specimens were not
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Coronavirus has affected many people around the world and caused an increase in the number of hospitalized patients and deaths. The prediction factor may help the physician to classify whether the patient needs more medical attention to decrease mortality and worsening of symptoms. We aimed to study the possible relationship between C reactive protein level and the severity of symptoms and its effect on the prognosis of the disease. And determine patients who require closer respiratory monitoring and more aggressive supportive therapies to avoid poor prognosis. The data was gathered using medical record data, the patient's medical history, and the onset of symptoms, as well as a blood sample to test the
... Show MoreGastrointestinal diseases and especially chronic gastritis are mainly induced by Helicobacter pylori infection, and provides the basis for gastric carcinogenesis and colorectal cancer. The study involved the detection of serum anti-H. pylori IgG and IgA antibody of and some serum biomarkers ;CEA and CA19-9 in patients with gastrointestinal diseases. Fifty eight serum samples were collected from 25 males and 33 females .Peripheral venous blood was collected from each patient and sera obtained by centrifugation. Serum anti-H. pylori IgG and IgA ,serum CEA and CA19-9 were evaluated by enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assays (ELISA).Forty eight serum samples were positive for IgG (82.7% ) divided int
... Show MoreThe prostaglandins inside inflamed tissues are produced by cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), making it an important target for improving anti-inflammatory medications over a long period. Adverse effects have been related to the traditional usage of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for the treatment of inflammation, mainly centered around gastrointestinal (GI) complications. The current research involves the creation of a virtual library of innovative molecules showing similar drug properties via a structure-based drug design. A library that includes five novel derivatives of Diclofenac was designed. Subsequently, molecular docking through the Glide module and determining the binding free energy implementing the P
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