Journal of Biotechnology Research Center

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a widespread, chronic, systemically inflammatory disease that, if improperly treated, can cause deformed joints and functional disability. For best disease management, greater chances of recovery, and the avoidance of irreversible clinical and radiographic damage, RA must be diagnosed and treated as soon as possible. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate body mass index utilizing DAS and levels of diagnostic tests in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Materials and methods: 120 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (60 newly diagnosed untreated patients and 60 others under treatment) were collected from Al-Yarmouk Hospital in Baghdad and 60 control individuals. Equation and diagnostic tests measured body mass index (BMI), then vitamin D3 with the COPAS 111 device. Results: The prevalence of the disease in females was 91%, while males were 9%. Diagnostic tests recorded clear significance (p < 0.05) differences between patients and healthy persons, and it increased with the severity of the disease. Additionally, patients' levels of vitamin D3 reduced significantly when compared to controls, and there was a significant disparity between patients’ and healthy participants' sugar levels, and the BMI correlated with disease activity.
Conclusions: The current study concluded that there is a relationship between weight gain and disease severity that diagnostic tests increased in patients and that vitamin D3 can be used as a diagnostic marker for rheumatoid arthritis.

Background: Fungi are widespread in indoor environments and contribute to various diseases in patients with compromised immune systems. Objective: This study aims to assess air quality containing fungi in the indoor environments of Al-Nu'man Teaching Hospital. Materials and Methods: The study involved 210 environmental samples collected from various selected parts of the hospital. The samples were carried out on a monthly basis by open plate technique, and then the cultures were examined and evaluated according to morphological and microscopic examination criteria. Results: The results showed that the percentage of fungal contamination was 140/210 (66.66%). The highest fungal contamination was recorded in hospital wards 27 (90%), followed by emergency unit 20 (76.92%), burn unit 16 (72.72%), operating theaters 14 (70%), neonatal unit 13 (65%), dialysis unit 12 (63.15%), obstetrics theaters 10 (58.82%), coronary care unit 9 (56.25%), respiratory care unit 8 (53.33%), hospital kitchen 6 (46.15%), and the lowest contamination was in endoscopy unit 5 (41.66%). Moreover, a total of 137 fungal isolates were obtained, with the highest occurrence and frequency percentages of fungi recorded for Penicillium spp. reaching 13.13% and 8.57%, respectively, followed by Aspergillus niger reaching 10.21% and 6.66%, respectively, and the lowest occurrence and frequency percentages recorded for Curvularia spp. reaching 0.72% and 0.47%, respectively. Conclusion: These results demonstrated that all wards and units were heavily contaminated with different types of fungi. Hence, it is essential to take urgent steps to enhance indoor air quality to prevent possible hospital infections.

Background: The anatomy of the stem and leaves is important to separate and identify species. The present work includes comparative anatomical and molecular studies of six taxa belonging to the genus Capsicum L. which are grown widely in Iraq. Anatomical and phylogenetic traits were observed for the identification of different taxa. Methods: For the anatomical study, stem, leaves and petioles of leaves were microscopically investigated, while for phylogenetics traits DNA was extracted from fresh and young leaves from each sample using RAPD and ISSR indices. Results: The anatomical results indicate that all taxa have anomocytic type of stomata. The glandular trichomes were found in the taxa C. frutescens and the taxa C. annum var.kwari gochu and C. annum was free from it, and these characteristics were important in the classification of the taxa of this genus. Phylogenetic results showed that 10 decamers of primers from 20 observed primers had diversity in cultivars of the genus Capsicum L. The genetic set of 10 RAPD primers and 8 Inter Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSR), and the pooled RAPD and ISSR data analyses support a genetic similarity range of 0.54, and 0.5 sequentially, and the taxa C. frutescens formed a single cluster in both molecular analyses in the genetic tree. The phylogenetic tree results also showed that other Capsicum cultivars are divided into two subgroups, one of which refers to the same variety C. annuum var. annuum, and it was among the most important taxa studied, as it showed that it has two stages of maturity, physiological and vegetative maturity, so it appears morphologically different, but genetically integrated with the same taxa (Capsicum).
Conclusion: The anatomical and molecular study of Capsicum taxa cultivated in Iraq provides valuable insights into the diversity and relationships between different species of this taxa.

Background: The Diarrhoeal illnesses were a serious public health issue and a main reason that increasing the newborn and young children morbidity and mortality in developing nations. In persons in Iraq and developing nations, Enterohaemorrhagic E. coli is a group of pathogenic E. coli that can cause diarrhea or hemorrhagic colitis. A significant contributor to pediatric acute renal failure, morbidity, and mortality in adults is hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which can occasionally develop from Enterohaemorrhagic E. coli. This review focusing on the prevalence of Enterohaemorrhagic E. coli and their role in increasing the mortality and morbidity in children and adults in Iraq and developing nations. Conclusion: Enterohaemorrhagic E. coli can cause diarrhea, hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic uremic syndrome which are a significant contributor to pediatric acute renal failure, morbidity, and mortality in adults in persons in Iraq and developing nations.

Recent studies about plants and botanical components used for different diseases and disorders as well as tradition herbal medicine had become the focus of attention of researchers and specialists in medicine. The current study aimed to investigate the antiviral activity of star anise seeds and black seeds aqueous extracts against Polio virus in L20B and Rd cell lines culture for understanding herbs extracts antiviral activity towards RNA covid 19 virus by applying two methods of in vitro treatment, pre-treatment method and simultaneous treatment either by treating the infected cell with Polio virus suspended in 2 ml culture tubes or treating the infected cells with Polio virus in a microtiter plated of 96 flat bottoms wells. The antiviral activity against Polio virus was improved through simulations treated of infected cells with aqueous extract of star Anise seeds and Black seeds in vitro even the later gave the more potent effect.

Background: Pseudomonas aeruginosa, is negative to gram stain, take the rod shape and considered as strictly aerobic. The most affect bacteria in nosocomial infection. P.aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen bacterium that can made serious infections in human who are immune compromised, such as urinary tract infection, skin, ear infection, and others.Methods: Antibiotics sensitivity test and biofilm formation assay were performed on clinical isolates diagnosis as P. aeruginosa. Results: Fifty-seven isolates were diagnoses as P. aeruginosa by characteristic in culture media, biochemical tests and API 20E. Forty isolates involved in our study ten from each source. Antibiotic susceptibility test performed for forty clinically isolates of P. aeruginosa by the disk diffusion method against some antibiotics belong to different groups and the results revealed that bacteria is multi-drug resistance (MRD) as well, revealed the most compound that have activity against P. aeruginosa were Imipenem, Pipracillin, and Ceftazidime. Biofilms were quantified and the P. aeruginosa reflected high ability to produce biofilm. All isolates used in this study formed biofilm with differences in thickness of formed layer.Conclusion: in this study, we concluded P. aeruginosa is one of the most common gram-negative bacteria involved in hospital infections causing opportunistic infection because they have intrinsically and acquired resistant to a number of antimicrobial agents and produces a number of exoproducts which are implicated in the pathogenesis of
P. aeruginosa infections.

Background: Colchicum szovitsii it is a wild perennial herbaceous plant grows in Iraq, it is medical and poisonous herb contain colchicine (alkaloid have cytotoxic effects) especially in corm and seeds. All parts are highly toxic if eaten. Handling of corms may cause skin allergy. Methods:This investigation present morphological and anatomical features of this plant for the first time in Iraq. (3) Results: The corm shape oblong to oblong-ovoid, the shape of the leaf is linear to oblong-lanceolate, undifferentiated perianth with 6 white oblanceolate tepals, the 6 stamens epiphyllous. The anatomical study observed isolateral leaf, uniseriate epidermis and anomocytic stomata, the mesophyll consisting many layers of irregular spongy paranchyma (chloranchyma), the type of vascular bundle is collateral. Conclusions: In this study we found that C. szovitsii distributed in Iraq have different morphological and anatomical features from the same species in Turkey and Iran like the dimension of corms, leaves, stamens, filament, anthers and capsule.

Background: Heavy metals are pollutants that do not decompose, but enter the food chain, and thus form toxic compounds that have a harmful effect on biological functions. There are an unlimited number of organisms in various environments, including bacteria that are able to degrade and reduce the high levels of many pollutants, most of which have not been as important to researchers as they are interested in pathological microorganisms. Materials and Methods: Twelve sediment samples were collected from the Diyala River within the boundaries of the study area, which included four main sites. A number of distinct bacterial isolates were isolated and diagnosed, one of which showed a high ability to grow in culture environments with high concentrations of heavy metals. Results: It was possible to characterize fifteen phenotypically different bacterial isolates capable of resisting heavy metals at a concentration of (50 mg/L). Five were chosen. Isolates, including the best isolates capable of growth and resistance to cobalt at concentrations between (400-750 mg/L), and chromium between (400-750 mg/L).1600-2600 mg/L, nickel between (1200-1600 mg/L) and, lead between (1200-2200 mg/L). One of these isolates, (iso 4) showed a high ability to remove heavy metals (chromium, cobalt, nickel, and lead) after the test, with concentrations of (25, 50, and 100 mg/L), and the removal rate for 5 days of chromium was (36, 55, 68, 73 and 77%) respectively, and the removal rate of cobalt was (22, 34, 44, 54 and 59%) and the removal rate of nickel was (23, 40, 56, 68 and 80%) and the removal rate for lead is (58, 68, 74, 80 and 86%). The same isolate also showed high efficiency in removing lead due to the ability to resist high concentrations with a 100% percentage of lead removal at a concentration of 25 mg/L from the first day until the fifth day. The biochemical diagnosis of the selected bacterial isolates was adopted and the diagnosis was made using the VITEK-2 system for isolate No.4, as the results showed that it belongs to the genus Klebsiella pneumonia. Conclusions: These environmental isolates can be applied in many bioremediation techniques to remove toxic compounds cheaply and safely.

Background: The occurrence of Gram-negative (G -ve) bacteria in meat samples
raises a major concern due to the possibility of drug resistance incidence since G
-ve bacteria have built-in resistance mechanisms and can pass on genetic
elements that enable other bacterial species to develop into drug-resistant as well.
This drug resistance could be transferred to consumers through a food-borne
route. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of Gram-negative bacteria in
meat samples as well as to detect their antibiotic susceptibility patterns.
Materials and Methods: For this purpose, 100 meat samples (ground meat, raw
burgers, frozen chicken, and chicken carcasses) were collected, and obtained
isolates were identified using conventional microbiological techniques including
cultural and microscopic identification. After that antibiotic susceptibility
patterns were detected using Kirby Bauer's disc diffusion method. Results:
Results showed that 91 of the samples were harboring Gram-negative bacteria
and E.coli was the most common isolate (51.64%) followed by Klebsiella
pneumoniae (18.68%) while the least common isolate was each of E. coli
O157:H7, Aeromonas hydrophila, Kluyvera spp., Raoultella terrigena, Hafnia
alvei, and Serratia marcescens (1.10%). Susceptibility test showed that all
isolates were susceptible to Meropenem and Imipenem while Ampicillin was the
most resisted antibiotic.Conclusions: This study showed that meat samples
harbor numerous pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria which showed antibiotic-
resistant ability toward most tested drugs. However, Meropenem and Imipenem
were the least resisted drugs, making them an appropriate choice for treating
foodborne infections.

Background: Neisseria gonorrhoeae (N. gonorrhea) is one of the most
common bacterial infections causing health problems in the epithelial lining
of the cervix. Previous studies did not adequately address its role in cervical
cancer (CEC), therefore, the current study aimed to determine the impact of
N. gonorrhea infection on gene expression of p53 and cIAP2 in CEC.
Materials and Methods: samples were collected from 20 women suffering
from cervical cancer with N. gonorrhea infection (CC-NG), and 20 women
who had cervical cancer without N. gonorrhea infection (CC) and 40 healthy
women as the control group. N. gonorrhea diagnosis was done by Modified
Thayer-Martin (MTM) agar and gram stain. Gene expression of p53 and
cIAP2 was carried out using real-time PCR. Results: P53 and cIAP2 genes
had high molecular expression (folding change) in CC-NG (17.172 and
31.135 respectively) and CC (16.02 and 15.45 respectively) compared to
healthy control (1.00) (P>0.05). Moreover, when the expression of both
genetic indicators was compared to each other an increase in gene
transcription in the cases of CC-NG compared to CC was observed. The
antibiotic resistance pattern for the tested Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains was
as follows: to ceftriaxone (100%), penicillin (96%), amoxicillin (90%),
tetracycline (89%) and ciprofloxacin (77%) but low to cefixime (4%),
spectinomycin (5%) and azithromycin (9 2%). Conclusion: N. gonorrhea
infection can be determine as risk factor for CEC development

Background: Cutaneous leishmaniasis is one of the endemic diseases in Iraq. Both
types of cutaneous leishmaniasis that cause different ulcers are present, namely
Leishmania major and Leishmania tropica, The disease also represents a major
public and global health problem all over the world, objective: Investigation of the
relationship between parasitic infection with cutaneous leishmaniasis and some
antioxidants Superoxide, Nitric oxide and immune cytokines tumor necrosis factor-
alpha, Interferon-gamma. Materials and Methods: The demographic and
epidemiological study included 55 cases suspected of being infected with cutaneous
leishmaniasis. They visited Ramadi Teaching Hospital, with 25 volunteers. After
obtaining their consent, they were used as control samples, where blood serum
samples were obtained from both study groups. After that, work was done in
laboratories. Department of Biology - College of Education for Pure Sciences -
Anbar University. Results: The patients and healthy people were of different
genders, and among the 55 samples from the infected, the number of males was 36
(65.5)% and females 19 (34.5)%, with statistically significant differences p<0.05,
and the age groups of the patients were from one year to 60 years. With an average
age of (31 years), they were distributed into 6 groups. Also, among the 25 samples
from the control group, the number of males was 12 (48%) and females were 13
(52%), Their ages also ranged from one year to 60 years, with an average age of
(13) years, the enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA) technique was used
to detect the level of immunological indicators TNF-α, IFN-γ, SOD, NO, where the
results showed High levels in the serum of cutaneous leishmaniasis patients (120.00
± 52.11, 123.00 ± 44.21, 3.10 ± 1.21 and 121.93 ± 33.22), respectively compared to
healthy subjects (72.86 ± 14.94, 21.91 ± 45.40, 0.88 ± 0.12, and 81.46 ± 4.50 )
respectively With statistically significant differences at the level of p < 0.05, p <
0.001. Conclusions: The inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IFN-γ play a vital role in
increasing or decreasing the severity in the pathogenesis of the disease and
eliminating it.

Background: The adverse effects of drugs can damage various organs, especially the liver,
leading to a hepatic injury known as hepatotoxicity. Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is
challenging nowadays because of the large number of different drugs used, one of the
offending medications that cause DILI is carbamazepine (CBZ), since the liver has an array
of functions including detoxification, it will deal with several damages caused by exposure
to the drugs. Objective: investigate the effect of (CBZ) 20mg/kg/day on female mice liver
after 14 and 30 days of treatment on morphological and histopathological levels. Materials
and Methods: 20mg/kg/day of CBZ was administered orally for (14) days to (10) female
mice, another (10) mice were taking the same concentration for 30 days, and control groups
were administered tap water. Results: The findings showed that CBZ can cause liver
enlargement, changes in liver appearance, distortion in Glisson’s capsule, cytologic
alterations, hepatocytes hypertrophy, ballooning degeneration, pyknosis, karyolysis,
karyomegaly, sinusoids dilation, increase in the number and sizes of Kupffer cells, fibrosis,
glycogen depletion, and cirrhosis. Conclusions These findings have shown that
carbamazepine (CBZ) can cause hepatotoxicity that can manifest into morphological and
histopathological changes.

Background: Heavy metals are considered one of the most dangerous environmental
pollutants due to their high toxicity, even at low concentrations, and their accumulation in
various body tissues. Landfills contain various wastes rich in heavy metals, such as batteries,
paints, and household and hospital waste, making them a major source of air, soil, and
groundwater pollution. Objective: To analyze the level of accumulation of heavy metals in
hair and nail samples of waste collectors. Material and method: Five main landfill sites in the
city of Baghdad were chosen to collect hair and nail samples from waste collectors of both
sexes for the winter and summer seasons to analyze the levels of metal concentrations (lead,
cadmium, nickel, zinc, and copper). And the use of atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS).
Results: Higher concentrations of lead, copper, and nickel were found in nail samples during
the summer compared to the winter, indicating an increased risk of exposure to them. While
zinc accumulation was much greater in winter samples. Conclusions The results highlight the
health risks faced by landfill workers. A need to develop tailored strategies to control exposure
to these emissions based on weather conditions and priority metals of concern identified
through regular biological monitoring.

Background:The cellulase enzyme is one of the most industrially important
enzymes. Its cost represents a significant barrier to other valuable commercial
products. Reducing the cost of cellulase production is an important approach.
Objectives: For this purpose, this work investigated the production of cellulase
enzyme using olive oil production waste (olive mill wastewater (OMW). Materials
and methods: The ability of Trichoderma viride to utilize OMW as a substrate for
cellulase production was studied. Optimization of cellulase production was
investigated to find out the optimum OMW concentration, agitation speed, aeration
rate, and cellulose addition. Results:The results showed that 75% v/v OMW
submerged shake flask culture was the most suitable culture for T. viride growth and
cellulase enzyme production (0.82 U/ml endoglucanase activity and 0.25 U/ml
exoglucanase activity). When this culture was supplemented with cellulose, the
activity of endoglucanase and exoglucanase was significantly improved (10.24 U/ml
and 2.17 U/ml respectively).The agitation speed of 200 rpm enhanced the production
to reach 9.1 U/ml of endoglucanase and 6.38 U/ml of exoglucanase. The effect of the
aeration rate on enzyme production was studied under batch cultivation. The highest
cellulase activity was at 2.0 vvm, where the endoglucanase and exoglucanase
activities were 55.96 U/ml and 32.62 U/ml respectively. Conclusions: Therefore, it
is claimed that OMW is a suitable medium for cellulase enzyme production after
optimization of the process.

Background: The transcriptional control of various cell types, especially in the
development or functioning of immune system cells involved in either promoting or
inhibiting the immune response against cancer, is significantly influenced by DNA
or RNA methylation. Multifaceted interconnections exist between immunological or
cancer cell populations in the tumor's microenvironment (TME). TME alters the
fluctuating DNA (as well as RNA) methylation sequences in these immunological
cells to change their development into pro- or anti-cancer cell categories (such as T
cells, which are regulatory, for instance). Objective: This review highlights the
impact of DNA and RNA methylation on myeloid and lymphoid cells, unraveling
their intricate role in immune response orchestration within both oncological and
non-oncological milieus. Deciphering this complex transcriptional regulation holds
promise for identifying and demonstrating therapeutic avenues that take advantage
of the modulation of DNA and RNA methylation with the goal of alleviating the
number of cancer-related morbidity and mortality cases. Conclusion: While more
research is required towards fully understanding the effectiveness of epigenetic-
based treatments aimed at tumor as well as immune cell populations, there is
compelling proof that indicates that they will be successful in slowing the
advancement of malignancy as well as lowering cancer-related complications as well
fatalities