Introduction: Tuberculosis has been a concern of healthcare professionals due to the serious threats it poses on public health safety. However, regardless all the efforts, no appropriate goals for immunological diagnosis or tuberculosis treatment were established. Toll-like receptor 2 is one of the toll-like receptors, which plays a fundamental role in recognizing and hosting defense against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Toll-like receptor 2’s genetic polymorphism (arginine-to-glutamine substitution at residue 753 (Arg753Gln)) was linked to negative effects on the function of Toll-like receptor 2 which, in turn, impacts the body’s resistance or susceptibility to tuberculosis. The current study aimed at investigating the single Arg753Gln nucleotide polymorphism of the Toll-like receptor 2 gene in patients with tuberculosis infection versus a sample of healthy subjects as controls.

Methodology: A comparative study was conducted to investigate Toll-like receptor 2 polymorphism of the single nucleotide gene Arg753Gln in 30 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and compare their results with other 20 healthy controls matched by age and sex.
Results: TLR-2-Arg polymorphism allele A occurred in 36.7% of the patient group. Homozygous carriers of allele A/A polymorphism occurred in 13.4% compared to 5% among controls, while GA genotype was found in 23.3% among the study group and 10% among controls. The association between GA genotype and pulmonary tuberculosis was found statistically significant (p = 0.002) than other genotypes. Allele frequency for both G and A were (p =0.002) in patient groups and (p =0.000) among the control group.

Conclusions: TLR-2 Arg753Gln polymorphisms may have a crucial role in pulmonary tuberculosis susceptibility among Egyptian patients.

The purpose of this study was to assess the bacteriological quality in some domestic bottled waters marketed in Al Anbar Province of Iraq. In total, 120 samples were collected from 20 different domestic bottled water companies. The current study findings demonstrated that the positive total bacterial count for aerobic bacteria was 20 CFU/ml (16.6%) out of 120 samples. From 120 tested samples, coliform bacteria had a much lower count of 13 CFU/ml (10.8%). The bacteriological analysis tests of this study showed that the brand bottled water of Alhilwa had the highest mean of total bacterial count at 485 CFU/ml, followed by Alwafi and Araco, which found at mean of 283 and 196 CFU/ml, respectively. The other brands of bottled waters included Sawa and Izmir, which had given lower mean of bacterial count at 87 and 58 CFU/ml, respectively, while all other tested brands of bottled waters had zero content of total bacterial count. According to the biomedical tests and Vitek2 system employed for this study, the isolated bacte- rial species as contaminants in bottled waters were Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeru- ginosa, and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The results of this study showed that Pseudomonas aeruginosa was sensitive to all tested antibiotics, but the Escherichia coli was resistance to amoxicillin, azithromycin, ceftazidime, and cefixime. The Klebsiella pneumonia dem- onstrated sensitivity to all tested antibiotics except the cefixime. Therefore, antibiotics belonging to the types of penicillin, carbapenem, and quinolones can be considered the best medicine for treating infections caused by the bacteria diagnosed in this study. In conclusion, the findings of this study showed that some domestic bottled waters sold in markets and shops in Al Anbar Province have bacteriological contents that are within permitted ranges for Iraqi and WHO standards.

IMPORTANCE Researchers analyzed how lifestyle factors affect the overall health of people with bacterial infections from the water. The article describes significance of the research because many people do not have access to clean, safe drinking water where this water is essential to life, and many die of waterborne bacterial infections. So, the purpose of the article is to draw attention to the major factors of the most dangerous bacteria transmitted through water marketed in Al Anbar Province of Iraq: Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Klebsiella pneumo- niae. Furthermore, our specific significant contribution has been to show the most important treatments for treating infections caused by the bacteria diagnosed in this study.

Informed antibiotic prescription offers a practical solution to antibiotic resistance problem. With the increasing affordability of different sequencing technologies, molecular-based resistance prediction would direct proper antibiotic selection and preserve available agents. Amikacin is a broad-spectrum aminoglycoside exhibiting higher clinical efficacy and less resistance rates in Ps. aeruginosa due to its structural nature and its ability to achieve higher serum concentrations at lower therapeutic doses. This study examines the predictive poten- tial of molecular markers underlying amikacin susceptibility phenotypes in order to provide improved diagnostic panels. Using a predictive model, genes and variants underlying ami- kacin resistance have been statistically and functionally explored in a large comprehensive and diverse set of Ps. aeruginosa completely sequenced genomes. Different genes and var- iants have been examined for their predictive potential and functional correlation to amikacin susceptibility phenotypes. Three predictive sets of molecular markers have been identified and can be used in a complementary manner, offering promising molecular diagnostics. armR, nalC, nalD, mexR, mexZ, ampR, rmtD, nalDSer32Asn, fusA1Y552C, fusA1D588G, arnAA170T, and arnDG206C have been identified as the best amikacin resistance predic- tors in Ps. aeruginosa while faoAT385A, nuoGA890T, nuoGA574T, lptAT55A, lptAR62S, pstBR87C, gidBE126G, gidBQ28K, amgSE108Q, and rplYQ41L have been identified as the best amikacin susceptibility predictors. Combining different measures of predictive per- formance together with further functional analysis can help design new and more informa- tive molecular diagnostic panels. This would greatly inform and direct point of care diagnosis and prescription, which would consequently preserve amikacin functionality and usefulness.

Background

Meningitis is one of the most dangerous infection affecting children. The need for rapid and accurate diagnosis is mandatory for improving the outcome.

Aim of the work

To evaluate the role of multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in diagnosis of meningitis either bacterial or viral and to detect its accuracy.

Patients and methods

A cross-sectional study was carried out in University Children Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, between November 2019 and September 2020. The study was approved by the Ethics Review Board of Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, and informed written consent was obtained. The committee’s reference number is 17200161. Clinicaltrails.gov ID: NCT03387969. Forty-eight children aged 2 to 18 years with meningitis were included. Detailed history and examination, blood glucose level at time of admission prior to lumbar puncture, and multiplex PCR in cerebrospinal fluid …

Background: Bacillus cereus is a common food poisoning pathogen in humans. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence, molecular typing, antibiogram profile, pathogenicity, dissemination of virulence and antibiotic resistance genes associated with natural B. cereus infection among Mugil seheli.
Methods: Consequently, 120 M. seheli (40 healthy and 80 diseased) were obtained from private fish farms in Port-said Governorate, Egypt. Afterward, samples were processed for clinical, post-mortem, and bacteriological examinations. The recovered isolates were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility, phenotypic assessment of virulence factors, pathogeneicity, and PCR-based detection of virulence and antibiotic resistance genes.

Results: B. cereus was isolated from 30 (25%) examined fish; the highest prevalence was noticed in the liver (50%). The phylogenetic and sequence analyses of the gyrB gene revealed that the tested B. cereus isolate displayed a high genetic similarity with other B. cereus strains from different origins. All the recovered B. cereus isolates (n =60, 100%) exhibited β-hemolytic and lecithinase activities, while 90% (54/ 60) of the tested isolates were biofilm producers. Using PCR, the tested B. cereus isolates harbor nhe, hbl, cytK, pc-plc, and ces virulence genes with prevalence rates of 91.6%, 86.6%, 83.4%, 50%, and 33.4%, respectively. Moreover, 40% (24/60) of the tested B. cereus isolates were multidrug-resistant (MDR) to six antimicrobial classes and carried the bla1, bla2, tetA, and ermA genes. The experimentally infected fish with B. cereus showed variable mortality in direct proportion to the inoculated doses.

Conclusion: As far as we know, this is the first report that emphasized the existence of MDR B. cereus in M. seheli that reflects a threat to the public health and the aquaculture sector. Newly emerging MDR B. cereus in M. seheli commonly carried virulence genes nhe, hbl, cytK, and pc-plc, as well as resistance genes bla1, bla2, tetA, and ermA.

Background: Gallibacterium anatis is incriminated frequently in severe economic losses and mortalities in the poultry industry. This study aimed to detect the prevalence of G. anatis in layer chickens, sequence analysis, the antibiogram profiles, and PCR screening of virulence determinants and antibiotic resistance genes.
Methods: Accordingly, 300 samples (tracheal swabs, ovary and oviduct, and lung) were randomly collected from 100 diseased layer chickens from private commercial layer farms at Elsharkia Governorate, Egypt. The bacteriological examination was carried out. The retrieved isolates were tested for 16S rRNA-23S rRNA gene sequencing, antibiogram profiling, PCR screening of virulence (gtxA, fifA, and gyrB), and antibiotic resistance genes (blaROB, aphA1, tetB, and tetH).

Results: The prevalence of G. anatis was 25% in the examined diseased layer chickens. The sequence analyses emphasized that the tested strains derived from a common ancestor and exhibited a notable genetic similarity with other G. anatis strains from USA, China, and Denmark. The isolated G. anatis strains were highly resistant to sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim, oxytetracycline, penicillin, ampicillin, kanamycin, neomycin, and erythromycin. The PCR revealed that the retrieved G. anatis strains carried gtxA, gyrB, and fifA virulence genes with a prevalence of 100%, 100%, and 38.3%, respectively. Approximately 30.1% of the retrieved G. anatis isolates were XDR to six antimicrobial classes and harbored blaROB, aphA1, and tetB resistance genes. Moreover, 20.5% of the isolated G. anatis strains were MDR to three different classes and carried blaROB and tetH resistance genes.

Conclusion: Briefly, this study emphasized the existence of XDR and MDR G. anatis strains in poultry. Florfenicol and norfloxacin displayed a promising antimicrobial effect against the emerging XDR and MDR G. anatis in poultry. The emergence of XDR and MDR G. anatis is considered a public health alarm.

The aim of this study was the isolation and molecular characterization of fungi from untreated refinery effluent by using multiple conserved genes. The Fungi isolated were characterized based on PCR amplification and genomic sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS), partial β‐tubulin (BenA), calmodulin (CaM), and RNA polymerase second large subunit (RPB2) genes, along with morphological characterization. The obtained sequences were subjected to BLAST analysis and the corresponding fungal isolates were assigned species names after comparison with representative sequences available in GenBank. Fifteen (15) Fungi species belonging to four genera of Aspergillus, Penicillium, Fusarium, and Trichoderma with Aspergillus as the predominant genus were identified. Therefore these genes should be used as molecular markers for species level identification of fungi (especially Aspergillus and Penicillium as proven in this study.

Objective

To evaluate the safety and efficacy of ultrasound (US) as alternative to fluoroscopy for guidance of ureteroscopy (URS) during treatment of distal ureteric stones in adults.

Materials and methods

This study enrolled 80 patients older than 18 years presented with a single distal ureteric radio-opaque stone of ≤15 mm in longest diameter. Patients were randomized and allocated into two groups: the fluoroscopy group and the ultrasound group (n = 40 patients in each group). Patients with bilateral ureteric stones, solitary kidney, ureteric congenital anomalies, history of failed ureteroscopy, history of ureteric surgery, patients with uremia and pregnant women were excluded. Patients’ demographics, stone characteristics, operative data, stone-free status, hospital stay and complications were evaluated in both groups.

Results

No statistically significant difference between both groups was found regarding patients’ demographics and stone characteristics. Also there was no statistically significant difference in comparing fluoroscopy group versus ultrasound group regarding operative time (29.48 ± 15.3 versus 31.28 ± 18.24 min; P = 0.83), stone-free rate (97.5% versus 95%; P = 1.0), overall complications (15% versus 12.5%; P = 0.75), or hospital stay (1.17 ± 0.6 versus 1.02 ± 0.16 days; P = 0.12). Four patients (10%) in the ultrasound group required the addition of fluoroscopy beside ultrasound.

Conclusion

Ultrasound is effective in guidance during ureteroscopy for distal ureteric stones. It was comparable to fluoroscopy in terms of stone free rate, operative time, overall complications, and hospital stay. However, fluoroscopy must be available to be used when needed.