Background: The beneficial gut bacterium E. coli can cause blood poisoning, diarrhoea, and other gastrointestinal and systemic disorders. Objective: This study amid to examines the antibiofilm activity of Laurus nobilis leaves extract on E. coli isolates and compares pre- and post-treatment gene expression of fimA and papC genes. Subjects and Methods: Ten isolates of E. coli were obtained from the Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Institute, University of Baghdad, which was previously collected from Baghdad city hospitals and diagnosed by chemical tests, the diagnosis was confirmed using VITEK-2 System. The preparation of the aqueous and methanolic Laurus nobilis leaves extracts was done by using the maceration method and Soxhlet apparatus respectively. HPLC were conducted to determine the active compounds in the extracts. Moreover, molecular detection of fimA and papC genes and analysis of the gene expression by comparing the isolates treated with sub MIC of methanolic L. nobilis leaves extract with the untreated isolates. Results: Methanolic and aqueous extracts contained alkaloids, tannins, phenols, saponins, flavonoids, and glycosides. Seven polyphenolic compounds, four flavonoids derivatives (Apigenin, Luteolin, Rutin, and kaempferol) and three phenolic acids (Caffeic acid, Gallic acid, and Syringic acid), were identified by matching retention time with the standards. Laurus nobilis methanolic leaf extract inhibited 90% and 100% of E. coli biofilm development at 32 and 64 mg/ml. Conclusion: The result of the gene expression revealed that there is a decrease in the expression of the fimA and papC genes. The present study concluded that the Laurus nobilis leaves extract have rich phytochemical contents, so the methanolic extract had an excellent reduction effect on biofilm formation and showed remarkable down-regulation on the papC and fimA genes, which are responsible for the biofilm formation in E. coli.
Natural polymers are often non-toxic, biodegradable, biocompatible, and safe. A novel ligand was synthesized as a natural polymer using chitosan and oleander plant extract [(2R,3S,4R,5S)-5-(acetoxyamino)-4-hydroxy-3,6-dimethoxytetrahydro-2H-pyran-2-yl) methyl (16R)-3-(((2S,4S,5R)-4-methoxy-2,5-dimethyltetrahydro-2H-pyran-2-yl)oxy-10,13,16-trimethyl-17-(5-oxo-2,5-dihydrofuran-3-yl) hexadecahydro-14H-cyclopenta [a] phenanthren-14-yl) phthalate] (Chitosan-Ph-Oleander). This ligand and its complexes with several metals (Cr+3, Mn+2, Fe+3, Ni+2, Cu+2, Zn+2) were characterized using FTIR, UV-visible and 1H-NMR spectroscopy, as well as by molar conductivity, magnetic moment, and TGA analysis. The biological activity for the prepared polymer
... Show MoreThe antimicrobial potency of the crude ethanolic extracts from different Iraqi plants were evaluated . Further more, total sesquiterpene lactones and phenolic compounds were isolated and their antimicrobial activity attempted. The results indicated that crude extracts have no activity except that of Callistemon lanceolatus. Also, the sesquiterpene lactones and phenolic compounds isolated from Callistemon lanceolatus were the most significant antimicrobial active constituents of the studied plants.
COVID-19 is a unique viral infectious illness that causes a variety of symptoms and health hazards, particularly to the respiratory system and has been declared a worldwide pandemic. The disease is characterized by a cytokine release in severe conditions. Interleukin-6 (IL-6), a proinflammatory cytokine, mediates an important immunomodulatory process. Also, vitamin D was identified to have a role in the innate immunity of individuals. Our study was designed to find the role of IL-6 and vitamin D in COVID-19 patients, as well as, to see whether there is a link between vitamin D deficiency and cytokine syndrome development. The study included 90 COVID-19 patients and 30 control people from Baghdad, Iraq. The age of the participants was non-s
... Show MoreBackground: Masseter muscle is a jaw closing muscle of the mandible involved in Para functional habits; which include lip and cheek chewing, fingernail biting, and teeth clenching or bruxism which can be classified as awake or sleep bruxism. Patients with sleep bruxism are three to four times more likely to experience jaw pain and limitation of movement than people who do not experience sleep bruxism. The aim of this study is to measure the thickness of the masseter muscle in bruxist subjects and compare it with non-bruxist subjects by using sonography. Materials and Method: Forty Iraqi subjects with age ranged (20-40) divided into two groups according to the presence of bruxism. Clinical examination was made and masseter muscle thickness
... Show MoreMany international companies have branches or agencies in Iraq and have large market shares, and this has contributed to the increase in the import of these companies' products. This process created an additional problem of handling a large number of expired or defective products. There are many methods that contribute significantly to reducing these problems. The most prominent of these is the activation of reverse logistics options in Iraq by international and local companies. This research aims to conduct a survey of the reverse logistics options approved by some local and international companies and compare between them. This paper found that Amaron, Hitachi, Apple, Samsung and Huawei have limited options for reverse logistics and that
... Show MoreIn this study the prevalence of acute, sub-acute and chronic toxoplasmosis were monitored in a group of Iraqi pregnant women according to the anti-T.gondii antibodies (IgG and IgM), as well as the levels of both progesterone and estrogen hormones were measured using mini-VIDAS®technique. This study demonstrated that there was high prevalence of chronic toxoplasmosis (31.70%) when it compared with acute and sub-acute type, results also showed that the acute toxoplasmosis always related with low concentration of both progesterone and estrogen which were (5.35 ± 7.15 ng/ml) and (70.66 ± 51.08 pg/ml) respectively