Background: Klebsiella pneumoniae shows varying degrees of resistance to antibiotic treatment; this resistance arises from multiple mechanisms, including the increased expression of multidrug (MDR) efflux pumps. An efflux pump inhibitor (EPI) is required to overcome this challenge and restore the effectiveness of antibiotics against the present MDR K. pneumoniae. Objective: To investigate the synergistic effect of the EPI Phenylalanine-Arginine β-Naphthylamide (PaβN) and Ciprofloxacin (CIP) on the expression of efflux pump genes AcrAB-TolC, isolated from CIP-resistant K. pneumoniae. Methods: 50 isolates of K. pneumoniae were collected from five different hospitals in Baghdad, Iraq. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values were determined for the CIP and CIP and PaßN combination using the broth micro-dilution method conducted on ten isolates resistant to CIP. Moreover, the expression level of AcrA, AcrB, and TolC genes from four selected isolates of K. pneumoniae were measured using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Results: K. pneumoniae isolates showed that 40/50 (80%) were multidrug-resistant, and 54% of isolates were resistant to CIP. The MIC was reduced significantly from 2–8-fold in the isolates treated with PaβN and CIP compared to the CIP-treated group. The gene expression levels varied among the four selected isolates, with a slight decrease in AcrAB-TolC gene expression in some isolates treated with the CIP and PaβN combination compared to those treated with CIP alone. Conclusions: The promising finding is the effectiveness of synergistic combinations between the antibiotic and efflux pump inhibitors in eliminating resistance of MDR bacteria.
The aim of this study is to investigate the antibacterial capabilities of different coating durations of three nanoparticle (NP) coatings: molybdenum (Mo), tantalum (Ta), and zinc oxide (ZnO), and their effects on the surface characteristics of 316L stainless steel (SS). The coated substrates underwent characterization utilizing field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX), and X-ray diffractometer (XRD) techniques. The antibacterial efficacy of NPs was evaluated using the agar diffusion method. The FE-SEM and EDX images confirmed the presence of nano-sized particles of Mo, Ta, and ZnO on the surface of the substrates with perfectly symmetrical spheres and a uniform distribution of
... Show MoreAcinetobacter baumannii is highly adapted to hospital environments, causing persistent chronic infections due to its ability to form biofilms. In this work, the antibiofilm activity of AuNPs with a subMIC concentration of 9.34 μg/ml was investigated by the microtiter plate method against 80 clinical isolates of A. baumannii. The results revealed that the biofilm was significantly (P< 0.05) reduced by 48.2 – 82.1%.
Nanocomposite films of silver-polyvinyl alcohol (Ag/PVA) with varying silver nanoparticle concentrations (1-5 wt%) were synthesized via a solution casting technique. The films were characterized by understanding the influence of Ag content on their structural, optical, mechanical, and electrical properties. UV-Vis spectroscopy (300-800 nm) revealed a red shift in absorption peaks and a significant decrease in the optical band gap from 5.39 eV to 1.06 eV with increasing Ag concentration, indicating the formation of additional energy states within the PVA matrix. FTIR and SEM analyses confirmed the successful incorporation of nanoparticles and revealed changes in surface functionalities and morpholog
This experiment was carried out at the Field of Poultry, Department of Animal Resources, College of Agriculture, University of Baghdad, during the period from 1/5/2011 until 5/7/2011 to study the effect of adding arginine to laying hens diet on certain blood traits. A total of 100 Brown Lohmann laying hen chickens, 38 weeks of age, were randomly distributed into four treatment groups, with 25 hens for each treatment. Treatment groups were: T1: bird-fed diet with no additional arginine (control group); T2, T3, and T4: bird-fed diet supplemented with 0.4, 0.7, and 0.9%, respectively. Therefore, the total amounts of arginine in the four treatments (T1, T2, T3, and T4) become 1.1, 1.5, 1.8, and 2.0%, respectively. Results of this experiment rev
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The work of this paper is an investigation to improve the condenser performance of the automobile air conditioning system by enhancing the air-side heat transfer from the condenser through the use of an air guide net installed in front of the condenser face which is basically an aluminum plate having a circular entrance shape for the air passage. The A/C system was examined under two types of test. The first test was conducted the air guide net, while the second was done with the air guide net. The performances of the A/C system under these tests were compared. For the second type of test, the experiment was carried out with three different size of air guide net, three different circular diameters (2, 3 and 3.5 cm) a
... Show MoreVarious nutritional solutions given to patients contain amino acids. Possible interference of this supplementation with selected aminoglycoside antiboiotics, namely gentamycin and streptomycin was evaluated in vitro. In minimal medium, E.coli was inhibited by gentamycin and by streptomycin. Circumvention of this inhibition was obtained with a mixture of 20 amino acids in the medium. Deletion of amino acids revealved that circumvention. specific amino acids were required for such Deletion of the aromatic amino acids or cysteine abolished the protection against gentamycin and streptomycin, while the deletion of the branched chain amino acids abolished the protection against streptomycin only. Thereonine, on the other hand, appears to be essen
... Show MoreABSTRACT Possible interference of vamin nutritional solution with the activity of several B-lactam antibiotics against E.coli was evaluated in vitro.In Minimal basal salts-glucose medium rapid growth inhibition of sensitive E. coli was induced by 4 µg/ml of ampicillin / cloxaillin, 8 µg/ml of ampicillin, 6 µg/ml of carbencillin, hostacillin, and cephalotin, and by 32 µg/ml of penicillin G and cloxacillin. Significant inactivation of up to 32 µg/ml of carbencillin, cephalotin, penicillin G, and hostacillin was induced by addition of 1:20 v/v vamin. This inactivation was due to the presence of specific amino acids in the mixture. Deletions of amino acids revealed that valine, leucine, isoleucine, tyrosine, tryptophan, phenylalanine, cys
... Show MorePosible interference of vamin with the activity of several antibiotics against E. coli was evaluated in vitro. In MBS- glucose medium, significant growth delay was induced by 8 ug/ml of terramycin (oxytetracycline- polymyxin B) and bactrim (trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole), and by 16 ug/ml of refocin, lincomycin, and chloramphenicol. Rapid growth inhibition was induced by 32 ug/ml of all an- tibiotic tested separately. Significant inactivation of up to 64 ug/ml of licomycin and bactrim was in- duced by the addition of vamin at a concentration of 1:20 v/v of the medium. This effect was found to be due to the presence of specific amino acids in vamin. Among them is valine, leucine, isoleucine tyrosine, tryptophan, phenylalanine, cysteine, meth
... Show MoreIn this paper, experimental study has been done for temperature distribution in space conditioned with Ventilation Hollow Core Slab (TermoDeck) system. The experiments were carried out on a model room with dimensions of (1m 1.2m 1m) that was built according to a suitable scale factor of (1/4). The temperature distributions was measured by 59 thermocouples fixed in several locations in the test room. Two cases were considered in this work, the first one during unoccupied period at night time (without external load) and the other at day period with external load of 800W/m2 according to solar heat gain calculations during summer season in Iraq. All results confirm the use of TermoDeck system for ventilation and cooling/heat
... Show MoreBackground: Recently increasing number of people are using mouthwashes for general and oral care while the primary appeal of a mouthwash is an aid to breath freshness and cleansing the mouth, the majority of mouthwashes also claim to have antiseptic properties. The aim of this study is to determine the antimicrobial effectiveness of eight types of mouthwashes against Streptococcus mutans, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans in vitro. Materials and methods: Agar diffusion technique was used to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of eight types of mouthwashes against Streptococcus mutans, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans isolated from the oral cavities of patients attending dental clinics at college of dentistry - Baghdad Uni
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