Background: Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M. pneumoniae) is an important respiratory bacterial pathogen, especially among children. It causes acute upper and lower respiratory infections.Objective: This study was aimed to measure anti- M. pneumoniae antibodies among hospitalized children who were admitted to hospital diagnosed with acute respiratory tract infections.Method: Automated ELISA technique was performed to detect anti- M. pneumoniae antibodies (IgM and IgG antibodies) in serum from 108 children less than 5 years old. The children were admitted to the Pediatric Teaching Hospital in Suleimani city/Kurdistan Region/Iraq because of acute respiratory tract infections. A questionnaire was designed to collect demographic and clinical data fr

The reticuloendothelial system (RES) play an important role in immunity against bacterial infection and Klebsiella pneumoniae one of the most common causes of hospital-acquired infections. Dextran70 (D70), a polysaccharide, may alter functions of this system through changing many biological activities in the tissues.

Klebsiella infections in the oral cavities of both humans and dogs have been increasingly reported and are associated with various buccal infections, as well as systemic infections. These infections appear to be rising particularly among pets and their owners, suggesting a possible bidirectional transmission between humans and dogs. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the potential link of mixed infections involving Klebsiella pneumoniae and Enterococcus spp. Buccal cavity samples were collected from humans (n = 25) and dogs (n = 25). Samples were initially enriched in tryptic soy broth and subsequently cultured on tryptic soy agar, MacConkey agar, and blood agar. All isolates were identified using the VITEK 2 system, and eight selec

Klebsiella pneumoniae has been found in the urinary tract of some bladder cancer patients. Bacterial presence within tumor tissue may affect the tumor-microenvironment and consequently influence cancer behavior, development, and treatment response. This study investigated mesenchymal and stemness transdifferentiation of bladder cancer cell line due to environmental stress of K. pneumoniae. Cultures of urothelial bladder cancer cell line (T24) were infected with K. pneumoniae with different multiplicity of infection (MOI) for two and four days. Transdifferentiation-associated features were morphologically assessed.

Moreover, transdifferentiation markers were estimated using Q-PCR and immunohistoc

There are many animal models for polycystic ovary (PCO); using exogenous testosterone enanthate is one of the methods of induction of these models. However, induction of insulin resistance should also be studied in the modeling technics. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the expression of insulin receptor substrate (Irs)-2 mRNA in the liver tissue of rat PCO model. Nineteen Wistar rats were divided into three groups; (1) PCO modeling group (N =7) received daily 1.0 mg/100g testosterone enanthate solved in olive oil along with free access dextrose water 5%, (2) vehicle group (N =6), which handled like the PCO group, but did not receive testosterone enanthate, (3) control group (N =6) with standard care. Al

Pseudomonas aeruginosa has variety of virulence factors that contribute to its pathogenicity. Therefore, rapid detection with high accuracy and specificity is very important in the control of this pathogenic bacterium. To evaluate the accuracy and specificity of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) assay, ETA and gyrB genes were targeted to detect pathogenic strains of P. aeruginosa. Seventy swab samples were taken from patients with infected wounds and burns in two hospitals in Erbil and Koya cities in Iraq. The isolates were traditionally identified using phenotypic methods, and DNA was extracted from the positive samples, to apply PCR using the species specific primers targeting ETA, the gene encoding for exotoxin A, and gyrB gene. The res

Enterococcus faecalis is a natural inhabitant of the human gastrointestinal tract but can become dominant and cause infections when the intestinal homeostasis is disrupted. Enterococcal bacteria are considered one of the main reasons for the failure of endodontic treatment. This study aim to isolation and identification of E.faecalis depended on phenotype and molecular method, the phenotypic patterns using traditional biochemical methods, and then diagnosed it based on the genotypes and using specialized primers for 16srRNA and D-Ala: D-Ala ligase genes using polymerase chain reaction, In order to achieve successful treatment, it is necessary to study the bacterial behavior within the root canal system together with their resistance and def

The members of the family of Eentrobacteriaceae harbour a gene cluster called polyketide synthase (pks) island. This cluster is responsible for the synthesis of the genotoxin colibactin that might have an important role in the induction of double-strand DNA breaks, leading to promote human colorectal cancer (CRC). Eleven out of the eighty eight isolates (12.5%) were pks+, distributed as 7 (8%) isolates of E. coli, 2 (2.25%) of K. pneumoniae and 2 (2.25%) of E. aerogenes. The cytotoxic effects of selected pks+ isolates (E. coli and E. aerogenes) on HeLa cells were represented by decreasing cell numbers and enlarged cell nuclei in comparison to the untreated cells. Cytological changes were observed when the infected HeLa cells culture

The members of the family of Eentrobacteriaceae harbour a gene cluster called polyketide synthase (pks) island. This cluster is responsible for the synthesis of the genotoxin colibactin that might have an important role in the induction of double-strand DNA breaks, leading to promote human colorectal cancer (CRC). Eleven out of the eighty eight isolates (12.5%) were pks+, distributed as 7 (8%) isolates of E. coli, 2 (2.25%) of K. pneumoniae and 2 (2.25%) of E. aerogenes. The cytotoxic effects of selected pks+ isolates (E. coli and E. aerogenes) on HeLa cells were represented by decreasing cell numbers and enlarged cell nuclei in comparison to the untreated cells. Cyt

Cervical carcinoma represent the second predominant cancer in female and there is a strong correlation between cervical cancer and the infection with high-risk types of HPV and expression the viral oncogenes. EMT is viewed as a vital advance in carcinoma development and ensuing metastasis. To evaluate correlation between the expression of Twist and HPV16 infection in a group of Iraqi patients with cervical carcinoma. A total of forty paraffin blocks included in this study which were divided into 30 sample of cervical cancer infected with HPV16and 10 sample of normal cervical tissues. The samples were subjected to immunohistochemical technique using Anti-Twist2 polyclonal antibody. The obtained data from this study indicate that majority of