Over the past few decades, the health benefits are under threat as many commonly used antibiotics have become less and less effective against certain illnesses not only because many of them produce toxic reactions but also due to the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria. The clinical use of a combination of antibiotic therapy for Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections is probably more effective than monotherapy. The present study aims to estimate the antibacterial and antibiofilm activity of Conocarpus erectus leaves extracts against multi-drug resistant P. aeruginosa isolated from different hospitals in Baghdad city. One hundred fifty different clinical specimens were collected from patients from September 2021 to January 2022. All samples were cultured on specific and differential media, only 83 isolates were able to grow on cetrimide agar and at 42˚C, and then the VITEK 2 compact system was dependent to complete the identification. The results showed that the high resistance of the isolates was to the two antibiotics Ceftriaxone and Amoxicillin-Clavulanic acid with a percentage of (92.7%) and (89.2%) respectively, followed by Trimethoprim with a resistance rate of (79.5%). Ten isolates with multi-drug resistance are selected to evaluate the antibacterial activity of plant extracts and the combination between Conocarpus erectus extract and antibiotics. Maceration and Soxhlet apparatus were used to prepare the methanolic and aqueous extracts. The results of the radical scavenging ability showed that the methanolic and aqueous extracts (96.44 and 94.13%) in 10 mg/ml respectively, were more than the artificial antioxidant (BHT) which was 93.11% and the approach with the vitamin C which was 97.20%. The results of the total phenolic content were observed at 51.58 and 65.60 mg/g in 5 mg/ml for the aqueous and methanolic extracts respectively. The antibacterial activity of C. erectus leaves extracts showed that the methanolic extract was more effective than the aqueous extract at a concentration of 100 mg/ml. The results of the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the methanolic extract against P. aeruginosa were between 8-32 mg\ml. While the MIC values of the aqueous extract were 128-256 mg\ml. The synergistic activity between C. erectus methanolic extract and antibiotics against multidrug-resistant P. aeruginosa was assessed using the checkerboard analysis technique. The methanolic extract showed a synergistic effect with Cefepime against six isolates (FICI: ≤0.5), and an additive effect against four isolates (FICI: (≥ 0.5–1.0). Furthermore, a synergistic effect with Ceftriaxone against seven isolates and additive interaction was found against three isolates.
A laboratory experiment was carried out and repeated at field of College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, University of Baghdad in 2017. First factor was three cultivars of lupine 'Giza-1', 'Giza-2' and 'Hamburg'. Second factor was three seed weights (lower weight, medium weight and higher weight) which was following the cultivars factor. Nested design was used. Results showed supremacy of 'Giza-1' cultivar significantly and gave higher germination ratio, radical length, seedling dry weight, seedling vigour index, field emergence ratio, plant height and number of leaves per plant. The treatment ('Giza-1'×higher seed weight) was supremacy significantly and gave higher germination ratio, radical length, plumule length, and seedling vigo
... Show MoreTo know the effect of bio-enhancer (zeolite), biohealth, mineral fertilizers and their interactions, the possibility of replacing mineral fertilizers with bio-enhancers and bio-enhancers, and their effect on some potato yield measurements. A field experiment was conducted at one of the field stations of the College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, University of Baghdad, near the electronic calculator center, research station (F) in Al-Jadriya region in the loam mixture soil during autumn season 2021-2022 AD, It was designed using a completely randomized block design (RCBD) with three replicates. The factors of the study experiment included three levels of zeolite (0, 6 tons ha-1, and 12 tons ha-1), which were symbolized by (Z0)
... Show MoreThis study was conducted to explore the effects of using ionized water on the productive and physiological performance of Japanese quails (Coturnix japonica). Our study was conducted at a private farm from 20th April, 2016 to 13th July, 2016 (84 d). One hundred 42-day-old Japanese quail chicks were used, divided randomly into 5 groups with 4 replicates. Treatments consisted in a control group (T1 - normal water:), alkaline (T2 - pH 8 and T3 - pH 9), and acidic water (T4 - pH 6 and T5 - pH 5). All birds were fed a balanced diet of energy and protein. The egg production ratio, egg weight, cumulative number of eggs, egg mass, feed conversion ratio, productivity per hen per week, and effects on plasma lipids, uric acid, glucose, calcium, and ph
... Show MoreThis study was conducted to determine the fungal cause and bio control of damping off and root rot of wheat plants by using pseudomonas fluorescens under greenhouse and field conditions. Results showed isolation of eight species from the soil and roots to deferent region of Baghdad government. Rhizoctonia solani (Rs) and Fusarium solani (Fs) were the predominant damping off fungus with frequency 60 and 52% respectively. Led the using of bacteria formulations such as crud suspension , pure bacteria filtration and pure living cells in culture medium inhibit all type fungi with rates ranging from 84-96% , 80- 93% and 75-88% respectively. Rs and Fs were more pathogenesis under greenhouse conditions, with incidence of 80 and 68% and disease s
... Show MoreThe research work was conducted to investigate the effect of oral administration of water extract of black pepper at doses of (1, 5) mg/kg body weight for two weeks daily by determining the genotoxic effect (mitotic index), evaluation of immunological effect (IgG, IgM, IgA, C3, C4) and measuring fertility hormones (follicles stimulation hormone/FSH, lutenising hormone/LH) levels with histopathological examinations of female albino swiss mice ovaries in comparison with control (normal saline). A clear effect in increasing mitotic activity was reveled for both doses in comparison with control. Results also showed a significant increase in the value of the all immunological parameters at both doses in comparison with control. Also obvious rais
... Show MoreBACKGROUND: Enteric fever caused by Salmonella Typhi is an endemic disease in Iraq. Variations in presentations make it a diagnostic challenge. If untreated or treated inappropriately then it is a serious disease with potentially life-threatening complications. The recent emergence of drug resistant strains of S. Typhi is a rising public health problem and a clinical concern to the physician. AIM: The objectives of the study were to assess and describe the patterns of antimicrobial resistance, clinical characteristics, epidemiological distribution, and complications of typhoid fever. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty cases of typhoid fever (culture proven) were collected during the period from February 2019 to November 2019 in the me
... Show MoreThe antioxidant and antibacterial activities of ethanolic extract and phenolic compounds extract of Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) and Oregano (Oreganum vulgare) plants were studied; the phenolic content and the relationship between these compounds and the above activities were also investigated. The results showed that the Lemon balm had the highest phenolic content (56.5% mg g) and the phenolic content of Oregano was twice lower than Lemon balm. Lemon balm has the highest antioxidant activity which causes lipid peroxidation inhibition activity of linoleic acid (90.5%), this activity was more than ?-tocopherole antioxidant activity (79.3 %). It was found that the main source of antioxidant activity o
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