Resveratrol, (RES), a phytoalexin, is well-known for its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. SEB, a superantigen, is known to trigger ALI and cause mortality. In the current study, we tested the effect of RES in a dual-dose model of SEB exposure that triggers ALI and causes 100% mortality in C3H/HeJ-mice. The data revealed RES attenuated SEB-induced ALI and prevented mortality. Forty eight hours post-SEB exposure, lung-infiltrating mononuclear cells were tested for microRNA expression profile to determine the epigenetic regulation by resveratrol. SEB-activated splenocytes were pre-treated with 50 μM of RES or vehicle for metabolic profile analysis by measuring oxygen consu
Aim: Rats are accused in disseminating many zoonotic diseases. This study aimed to isolate and identify bacteria from internal organs of rats captured in Baghdad City, Iraq. Materials and Methods: A total of 120 black rats (R. rattus) were trapped from different areas in Baghdad city. Rats were kept in individual plastic cages for 3 h before euthanizing. Deep pharyngeal swab, intestinal content, urine, and pieces of the liver and spleen, lung, kidney, and brain were obtained aseptically. The specimens were inoculated into peptone water and incubated at 37°C for 24 h for enrichment. A loopful of each specimen was then subcultured onto MacConkey Agar, Blood Agar, and Mannitol Salt Agar. CHROMagar O157 H7 and CHROMagar Listeria were u
... Show MoreBackground: COVID-19 is an ongoing disease that caused, and still causes, many challenges for humanity. In fact, COVID-19 death cases reached more than 4.5 million by the end of August 2021, although an improvement in the medical treatments and pharmaceutical protocols was obtained, and many vaccines were released. Objective: To, statistically, analyze the data of COVID-19 patients at Alshifaa Healthcare Center (Baghdad, Iraq). Methods: In this work, a statistical analysis was conducted on data included the total number, positive cases, and negative cases of people tested for COVID-19 at the Alshifaa Healthcare Center/Baghdad for the period 1 September – 31 December 2020. The number of people who got the test was 1080, where 424 w
... Show MoreInfluential, organized groups with natural antimicrobial and anti-biofilm broad-spectrum power exist within the food chain, like a hidden dormant mimic hygienic bio life nanobodies that can terminate multiple opportunistic disease entities owing multi-stress resistant forbidden recalcitrant power, such as Candida albicans. These wonderful dynamic forces created by ALLAH Almighty are the Mycophages or fungi-eating state of fungi foodborne phages, and this project was redirected to be a dare to leap from us towards the future. Multi-stress resistant C. albicans that are resistant to different antifungal agents with their genetic tolerance plasticity to thermal pasteurization decontamination module as well as to ultraviolet irradiation
... Show MoreA large number of natural or synthetic dyes have been removed from both national and international lists of permitted food colors because of their mutagenic or carcinogenic activity. Therefore, this study aimed to use the Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA-Based Polymerase Chain Reaction (RAPD-PCR) assay as a feasible method to evaluate the ability of some food colors as genotoxin-induced DNA damage and mutations. Lactiplantibacillus plantarum was used as a bioindicator to determine the genotoxic effects by RAPD-PCR using M13 primer after treatment with some synthetic dyes currently used as food color additives, including Sunset Yellow, Carmoisine, and Tartrazine. Besides qualitative analysis, the bioinformatic GelJ software was used for clus
... Show MorePhysiological status and litter size can indeed have a significant impact on ewes' hematological parameters, which are essential indicators of their health. Therefore, this study examined the hematological profiles of ewes during pregnancy with single and twins in the Awassi ewes. The present study involved 232 ewes in good health and at sexual maturity. Among them, 123 ewes had single pregnancies, while 109 ewes had twin pregnancies. The age range of the ewes included in the study was between 3.5 and 4.5 years. Hematological tests were conducted on the sheep's blood samples promptly following collection. The findings demonstrated variations in hematological parameters among pregnant
... Show MoreThis study was aimed to investigate the load of bacterial contaminant in fresh meat with different types of bacteria.One handered and seven samples were collected from different regions of Baghdad . These samples included 37 of fresh beef 70 of fresh sheep meat. All samples were cultured on different selective media to identitfy of contaminated bacteria .The result revealed that The percentage of bacterial isolate from raw sheep meat were, % 23.8of StreptococcusgroupD,29.4 % of Staphylococcus aureus ,14.7 % of E.coli , %4.9of Salmonella spp, ,%3.5 of pseudomonas aeruginosa, %14.7.%14.7 of Proteus spp.% 2.1 of Listeria spp while the raw beef meat content %5.55 of Staphylococcus aureus, %8.14 of streptococcus group D , %5.18 %1.85 of E.coli,
... Show MoreThis study was designed for isolation and molecular identification of Nontuberculous Mycobacterium (NTM) from fish during the period between October and December 2017 from Karbla province, Iraq. This study included 200 fresh fish samples from four different species including Spondyliosoma cantharus, Liza abu, Carassius carassius and Cyprinuscarpio. Three samples of each fish were taken including gills, muscles and all internal organs. The samples were processed by decontamination, concentration of 4% sodium hydroxide, and 0.1 ml of sediment was streaking on Löwenstein Johnson (LJ) media; then the bacterial cultures were incubated at 28-30 °C for 3days up to 4 weeks and suspected colonies were stained with acid fast stain to confir
... Show MoreBackground: Thymus vulgaris is a plant rich in essential oils acclaimed for the management of oxidative stress and inflammation in the organs. Meanwhile, the heavy metal lead is widely distributed in nature and continued exposure to lead acetate causes reduced fertility.Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate the effects of T. vulgaris on ovarian and uterine structural and functional characteristics in female rats exposed to lead acetate. Methods: Three groups of 18 mature Wistar albino female rats (Rattus norvegicus), 15 weeks old and weighing between 200 and 210 g, were established and handled for 60 days as follows: Group A (control group) received 0.5 mL of distilled water (DW) daily; group B received 5 mg/kg body weight (BW
... Show MoreThis work aimed to use conventional PCR to identify Salmonella spp. that were isolated from diarrheal children and healthy and diarrheic dogs based on four virulence genes, hilA, stn, spvR, and marT. Sixteen Salmonella isolates including: 9 isolated from children's diarrhea from three species (S. Typhimurium, S. Enteritidis, S. Typhi) and seven isolated from dogs including (S. Typhimurium, S. Enteritidis, S. Muenchen), were identified primarily by several methods. The PCR products of the 16S rRNA gene were sequenced and examined using BLAST analysis to find differences and similarities between these Iraqi isolates and already-known global strains in order to construct the phylogenetic tree of S.
... Show MoreBackground: Previous studies about the correlation of genetic polymorphisms in the multigene family of cyto- chrome P450 (CYPs), the effect of tobacco smoking, and the risk of developing cancer have been well in- vestigated in different populations, but not in Iraq. Furthermore, the studies of malignance occurrence re- lationship with cigarette tobacco smoking revealed the presence of strong association, however, little is known about the risk of Waterpipe (WP) tobacco smoking. Thus, determination two important genetic polymorphisms in CYP1A1, a main member of CYPs, among Iraqi men was our first aim. This is the first study that highlights the correlation of CYP1A1 polymorphisms with the risk of lung cancer in Iraq. The second aim was to ev
... Show MoreAryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is a potent ligand for AhR and a known carcinogen. While AhR activation by TCDD leads to significant immunosuppression, how this translates into carcinogenic signal is unclear. Recently, we demonstrated that activation of AhR by TCDD in naïve C57BL6 mice leads to massive induction of myeloid derived-suppressor cells (MDSCs). In the current study, we investigated the role of the gut microbiota in TCDD-mediated MDSC induction. TCDD caused significant alterations in the gut microbiome, such as increases in Prevotella and Lactobacillus, while decreasing Sutterella and Bacteroides. Fecal transplants from TCDD-treated
... Show MoreThis study was designed to explain the anatomy and histology of kidneys and salt glands in Great Flamingos. Eight adult healthy Great Flamingos of both sexes have been used. The results showed that the kidneys in Great Flamingos consist of three separated lobes. The right kidney was longer 8.9±0.3 mm than the left kidney 8.4±0.4mm. The ratio of the kidneys weight to the total body weight was 0.39%. The salt gland was very large crescent shape, and occupied the supraorbital fossa and has 20.8±0.2mm long and 3.9±0.2mm in diameter. The volume of cortex was 60-70% and the medulla was 30-40%. Within the middle region of cortex there were numerous large corpuscles (mammalian type) and few of small corpuscles (repti
... Show MoreGinger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.) is a traditional plant that is widely used as a spice or folk medicine. Lambda-cyhalothrin (LCT) is a synthetic pyrethroid that is widely used to control insecticide. The present study aimed to evaluate the potential protective effect of ginger ethanolic extract (GEE) on liver toxicity experimentally induced by LCT in albino rats. The experiment involved thirty adult male rats (Rattus norvegicus), randomly allocated to one of three groups (n=10/group: control group, administered distilled water orally for 12 weeks; LCT-treated group, received 5.43 mg/kg BW (1/15 LD50 dose calculated in this study as 81.5 mg/kg BW) orally, for 12 weeks; LCT-GEE-treated group, received t
... Show MoreRespiratory tract infections in sheep are among the important health problems that affect all sheep ages around the world. Nine bacterial isolates obtained from sheep with respiratory tract infections were selected to be used in the current study. The isolates included 3 Staphylococcus aureus, 4 Klebsiella pneumoniae, and 2 Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Following the primers design by the Primer3Plus software tool and optimization of the conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR), the primers were validated for their use in the multiplex PCR experiments. The MFEprimer program was used to check the suitability of the primer set combinations for multiplex PCR. The MFEprimer software was successful in designing the multiplex-PCR experiments and de
... Show MoreGlutathione-S-transferases (GSTs) play a role in the detoxification of environmental chemicals and mutagens, such as those inhaled during tobacco smoking. There have been conflicting reports concerning GST polymorphisms as risk factors in the development of lung cancer. No studies focused on Arab populations exposed to Waterpipe (WP) tobacco smoke have been undertaken. Here Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and gene sequenc- ing were applied to analyze allelic variations in GSTP1-rs1695 and -rs1138272 amongst 123 lung cancer patients and 129 controls. The data suggest that WP smoking raised the risk of lung cancer more than three-fold (OR 3.6; 95% CI 2.1–6.0; p < 0.0001). However, there was no s
... Show MoreThe compound 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), an environmental contaminant, is a potent ligand for aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). In the current study, we made an exciting observation that naive C57BL/6 mice that were exposed i.p. to TCDD showed massive mobilization of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in the peritoneal cavity. These MDSCs were highly immunosuppressive and attenuated Con A–induced hepatitis upon adoptive transfer. TCDD administration in naive mice also led to induction of several chemokines and cytokines in the peritoneal cavity and serum (CCL2, CCL3, CCL4, CCL11, CXCL1, CXCL2, CXCL5, CXCL9, G-CSF, GM-CSF, VEGF, and M-CSF) and chemokine receptors
Background: Semen contamination is a detrimental factor in decreasing fertility. Seasonal changes may affect the contamination, too. Objectives: This study was designed to detect semen contamination in ovine and caprine during different seasons. Methods: Six fully mature male sheep and goats were subjected to electro-ejaculator collection twice monthly from February 1, 2022, to January 31, 2023 (Spring, February 1, 2022-April 30, 2022; Summer, May 1, 2022, July 31, 2022; Autumn August 1, 2022, October 31, 2022; Winter November 1, 2022, January 31, 2023), for studying the seasonal effect. A total of 288 semen samples were collected from both species (36 samples from each per season). All samples were subjected to bacterial isolatio
... Show MoreInhalation of Staphylococcal Enterotoxin B (SEB) is known to induce acute lung injury (ALI) and studies from our laboratory have shown that THC, a psychoactive ingredient found in Cannabis sativa, can attenuate the ALI. In the current study, we investigated the role played by lung microbiota in ALI with or without THC treatment. A dual-dose of SEB was given to C3H/HeJ mice, which were then treated either with vehicle or THC. SEB-administration caused ALI and 100% mortality while all THC-treated mice survived and suppressed the inflammation in the lungs. Furthermore, lung microbiota was collected and 16S rRNA sequencing was performed. The data were analyzed to determine the alpha and b
The development of better tools for diagnosis and more accurate prognosis of cancer includes the search for biomarkers; molecules whose presence, absence or change in quantity or structure is associated with a particular tumour or prognosis/therapeutic outcome. While biomarkers need not be functionally relevant, if cell survival, then they could also provide new targets for therapeutic drugs. In recent years attention has been applied to a group of proteins known as cancer testis antigens (CT antigens) [1]. These proteins are products of genes whose expression was normally confined to the testis, yet they are expressed in tumour cells. CT genes are bound to serve a wide array of roles in the testes, which have many highly differentiated cel
... Show Moreاستشعار النصاب (Quorum sensing, QS) هو آلية معروفة تستخدمها جراثيم عديدة للسيطرة على عوامل الضراوة الهامة من خلال الإنتاج والاستجابة اللاحقة ل .)N-acylhomoserine (AHLs جرى تسجيل تثبيط استشعار النصاب (QSI) ، الذي يستهدف الإشارات المعتمدة على AHL، كاستراتيجية للسيطرة على الأمراضية الجرثومية. وبالتالي، تهدف هذه الدراسة إلى البحث عن قدرة جرثومة الزائفة الزنجارية كمؤشر للفحص السريع عن QSI المحتمل المتسبب عن المستخلصات النباتية على أسا
... Show MoreThe current study aimed to examine the histomorphological features of the oral salivary ducts and the peacock tongue (Pavo cristatus) of this species. In this study, eight healthy adult peacocks were used after collecting them from a commercial market in Baghdad to investigate and describe the tongue in these bird species. After being euthanized, they were killed by cutting off the major neck blood vessels and bleeding until death; the tongue was identified. The tongue was the sharp end, elongated, somewhat triangular, and measured 8.2 mm. The apex, trunk, and base are its three sections. There are 4 to 5 layers of big conical papillae on the area where the root and body converge. Without gustatory papillae, the dense keratinized ep
... Show MoreEctopic growth of normal cells or debris originating from endometrium, the inner layer of female reproductive tube leads to endometriosis. The main symptoms are dyspareunia, dysmenorrhea, and sometimes chronic pelvic pain. Unfortunately, it has no cure or treatment, only symptoms relief medication or surgical removal. Endometriosis causes estrogen imbalance leading to intestinal bacterial estrobolome dysregulation and subsequent change in immune response. Our study aims to investigate the linkage between gut dysbiosis and immunological response in endometriotic mice. Balb/c mice were ovariectomized (OVX) 7 days before intraperitoneal transplantation of 2mm2 endometrial tissue from OVX