This study is carried out to investigate the prevalence of Coxiella burnetii (C. burnetii) infections in cattle using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay targeting IS1111A transposase gene. A total of 130 lactating cows were randomly selected from different areas in Wasit province, Iraq and subjected to blood and milk sampling during the period extended between November 2018 and May 2019. ELISA and PCR tests revealed that 16.15% and 10% of the animals studied were respectively positive. Significant correlations (P<0.05) were detected between the positive results and clinical data. Two positive PCR products were analyzed phylogenetically, named as C. burnetii IQ-No.5 and C. burnetii IQ-No.6; and then recorded in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) under an accession numbers of MN473204.1 and MN473205.1. Comparative identity of the local strains with NCBI-BLAST strains/isolates revealed 97% similarity and 0.1-0.6% of total genetic mutations/changes. NCBI-BLAST Homology Sequence reported high significant identity (P<0.05) between the local, C. burnetii IQ-No.5 and C. burnetii IQ-No.6; strains and C. burnetii 3345937 (CP014354.1) Netherlands isolate at 99.10% and 99.06%, respectively. The current study concluded that the percentage of infected cows with coxiellosis is relatively high, and Coxiella should be listed as abortive pathogen. Therefore, additional studies should be performed including different animals, samples, and regions.
Infection with the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii is widely prevalent in humans and animals. Infection with Toxoplasma may associate with miscarriage in many pregnant women due to infection. In this study, the level of lutetropic hormone (LTH), folliclestimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) was measured in pregnant women suffering from toxoplasmosis using mini-VIDAS®technique. Results showed that pregnant women have high concentration of both LTH and FSH hormone(10.80 ± 6.53) ng/ml and (9.51 ± 2.40) μIU/ml respectively, while the concentration of LH hormone was lower than normal(4.49 ± 0.56) μIU/ml. Such finding is to suggest that infection with T. gondii is interfering with these hormones in pregnant women.
To investigate the role of IL-6 and IL-8 in the immune-regulatory mechanisms involved in the recurrent spontaneous abortion of the first trimester of pregnancy. Serum level of IL-6 and IL-8 were determined in 25 women of age (20-35) years who had a spontaneous abortion of unknown aetiology during the first trimester of pregnancy .They were compared with the corresponding levels of 20 pregnant and non-pregnant women as control groups .cytokine levels were measured by (ELISA) technique .The women with spontaneous abortion had highly significant (P < 0.01) increased serum level of IL-8 and highly significant (P < 0.01 ) decreased level of IL-6 compared to those with normal pregnant and non-pregnant women. The results of this study ma
... Show MoreBackground: The diagnosis of prostatic pathology may be of challenging , as some difficult and suspected, atypical cases may lack basal cell layer by routine H&E sections . Antibodies against 34BE12(HMW-CK) and p63 aid the diagnosis of such cases , to distinguish benign from malignant prostatic lesions.
Objective: to identify basal cells in atypical prostatic lesions ,and distinguish benign from malignant prostatic lesions.
Type of the study: A retro-spective study.
Methods: 115cases of paraffin embedded prostatic tissue blocks ,diagnosed as : 76 cases were benign prostatic hy
... Show MoreHeart sound is an electric signal affected by some factors during the signal's recording process, which adds unwanted information to the signal. Recently, many studies have been interested in noise removal and signal recovery problems. The first step in signal processing is noise removal; many filters are used and proposed for treating this problem. Here, the Hankel matrix is implemented from a given signal and tries to clean the signal by overcoming unwanted information from the Hankel matrix. The first step is detecting unwanted information by defining a binary operator. This operator is defined under some threshold. The unwanted information replaces by zero, and the wanted information keeping in the estimated matrix. The resulting matrix
... Show MoreBackground: Hyperlipidemia is an elevated fat (lipids), mostly cholesterol and triglycerides, in the blood. These lipids usually bind to proteins to remain circulated so-called lipoprotein. Aims of the study: To determine taste detection threshold and estimate the trace elements (zinc) in serum and saliva of those patients and compare all of these with healthy control subjects. Methods: Eighty subjects were incorporated in this study, thy were divided into two groups: forty patients on simvastatin treatment age between (35-60) years, and forty healthy control of age range between (35-60) years. Saliva was collected by non-stimulated technique within 10 minutes. Serum was obtained from each subject. Zinc was estimated in serum and saliva
... Show MoreFor the period from February 2014 till May 2014, one hundred and nine lactose fermenter clinical isolates from different samples (urine, stool, wound swab, blood, and sputum) were collected from Alyarmok, Alkadimiya, and Baghdad teaching hospitals at Baghdad governorate. Identification of all Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates were carried out depending on macroscopic, microscopic characterizations, conventional biochemical tests, and Api 20E system. Fifty-three (48.62%) isolates represented K. pneumoniae; however, 51.73% represented other bacteria. Susceptibility test was achieved to all fifty-three K. pneumoniae isolates using five antibiotic disks (Ceftazidime, Ceftriaxone, Cefotaxime, Imipenem, and Meropenem). Most of tested isolates (90
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