Research Article
Genetic Profiling of Multidrug -Resistant Uropathogenic E. coli: Aminoglycosides, B-Lactam, Sulfonamides, and Tetracycline Resistant Genes in Al-Diwaniyah, Iraq
Mohanad Jawad, Rahma Majid Al-Allawi, Rashad Imad Al-Zamili
Middle East Research Journal Microbiology and Biotechnology; 80-93.
https://doi.org/10.36348/merjmb.2026.v06i02.004
The present cross-sectional study focuses on unraveling the genetic profile of uropathogenic E. coli strains, isolated from UTI patients, regarding aminoglycosides-, B-lactam-, tetracyclines, and sulfonamides resistance using polymerase chain reaction and gene specific primer sets. Biochemical profile (API 20E tests) and molecular identification (16S rRNA gene sequence analysis) of uropathogenic clinical strains revealed that E. coli had 20% prevalence among UTI patients recruited from Al-Diwaniyah Hospital clinic from February 2025 to June 2025. Aminoglycosides resistant genes had frequency of occurrence 70, 25, and 10% for aac (3)-IIC, aaC(6’)-Ib, and armA genes, respectively. B-lactam resistant genes had a prevalence of 90, 80, and 60% for blaSHV, blaTEM, and blaCTX-M, respectively. Carbapenem resistant genes showed a prevalence of 35, 40, 40, and 45% for blaNDM, blaKPC, blaVIM, and blaOXA-48, respectively. The tetracycline resistance gene (tetA) exhibited 35% frequency. Sulfonamides resistant genes exhibited 35 and 45% frequency of occurrence for Sul1 and Sul2, respectively. The current findings indicate an alarming increase regarding the circulation of multidrug-resistant uropathogenic E. coli within the Al-Diwaniyah region. These findings underscore a crucial necessity to re-assess the empirical antimicrobial therapy strategies for UTIs in the Al-Diwaniyah region, warranting clinical practice is updated to combat the growing circulation of multidrug-resistant uropathogenic E. coli.".
Research Article
Haemagglutination Patterns of Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli of Cancer and Noncancer Patients
Mohemid Maddallah Al-Jebouri, Ibraheem Abdul-kareem Al-Ani
Middle East Research Journal Microbiology and Biotechnology; 94-102.
https://doi.org/10.36348/merjmb.2026.v06i02.005
Background: The haemagglutination has been used for detection of many infectious diseases as a cheep tool for identification compared to other sophisticated techniques such as serology, biochemical and phage typing. Because of bacterial pili, the agglutination of erythrocytes with bacteria has been demonstrated to be facilitated. Materials and Methods: 400 patients were included and they were 200 patients with cancer diseases and 200 patients complaining of other illnesses. Swabs were taken from faeces and inoculated on MacConkey agar for isolation and identification of Escherichia coli. Haemagglutination typing between E.coli serotypes and erythrocytes of different human blood groups was carried out with and without mannose and the patterns were concluded. Results: Among cancer patients, blood group A represented the most prevalent blood type, accounting for 36% of the total cancer population, followed closely by blood group O (34.5%). Blood group B constituted 23.5%, whereas blood group AB showed the lowest prevalence at only 6%. This pattern suggests a possible predominance of blood groups A and O among cancer-associated individuals. Blood group A cancer patients under mannose-positive conditions showed the greatest overall agglutination intensity, with multiple positive interactions against serotypes 026, 055, 086, 0119, 0127, 0126, 0114, and 0142 (Table 2). This finding may indicate enhanced susceptibility of blood group a erythrocyte antigens to bacterial attachment in cancer-associated physiological conditions. Overall, the findings suggest that ABO blood group antigens significantly influenced E. coli haemagglutination behavior and cancer-associated blood samples demonstrated enhanced bacterial interaction patterns. Conclusions: He present study revealed that cancer patients were mostly of blood group A. It was also noticed that o125 and 0128 serotypes of E.coli agglutinated with blood groups O and B but the serotype o124 did not show any sort of haemagglutination with different blood groups. It was concluded that most serotypes were group A agglutinating bacterial strains with frequency exceeded 70%. Table 2 shows that most of serotypes reacted to A,B and O positively as far as cancer patients were concerned particularly group A but no haemagglutination was seen with blood group type AB. A significant Chi-square result (p < 0.05) would indicate that blood group distribution differs significantly between cancer and non-cancer populations. These results support the hypothesis that erythrocyte surface carbohydrate structures, disease-associated physiological changes, and bacterial adhesin diversity collectively contribute to host–pathogen interaction dynamics.
Research Article
Effects of Combined Helium/ Neon Laser Radiation and Photosensitizer on Disinfectant-Exposed Staphylococcus aureus In vitro
Mohemid Maddallah Al-Jebouri, Hussein Saher Al-Obaidy
Middle East Research Journal Microbiology and Biotechnology; 103-112.
https://doi.org/10.36348/merjmb.2026.v06i02.006
Background: The mode of action of disinfectants on bacterial cells is variable. Savlon, cetrimide, and chlorhexidine are bactericidal at high concentrations and bacteriostatic at low concentrations, and cause lesions in the cell membrane and leakage of components. Materials and Methods: The present work was conducted on 200 patients with wounds. Their ages ranged from 1-40 years. Wound swab was taken on the third postoperative day from hospitalized patients and on the seventh postoperative day from patients attended outpatient clinic. The effect of low-power diode laser light with or without photochemical agents such as toluidine blue O, providine-iodine and tetracycline on total viable counts (TVC’s) was determined. Results: There was a significant decrease in the viable counts, e.g. TVCs of the strain no. 1 decreased from 550 X 108 before exposure to 300 x 108 after exposure to laser light. The differences in TVCs before and after exposure was statistically significant (P ˂0.05) using microstat test. It was found that the laser+ providine-iodine combination was the most effective than other types of exposure especially against secondly disinfectant-exposed strains of S. aureus. The present study showed also differences in the TVCs between laser light effect and laser+ toluidine blue O combination at 32, 16, 8, and 4 minutes of exposure were statistically not significant (P˃0.05). Conclusions: Laser irradiation for 32 minutes resulted in a significant reduction in bacterial load, with most strains showing a consistent decline. The paired analysis confirms that this reduction is not due to random variation but reflects a true antimicrobial effect of laser exposure. the combination of laser and povidine-iodine resulted in the greatest reduction, with several strains approaching complete eradication. Statistical analysis confirmed a highly significant difference among treatment conditions (Friedman test, p < 0.001), supporting a synergistic interaction between laser exposure and chemical disinfection. The combination of laser with povidone-iodine yielded the most pronounced bactericidal effect, achieving near-complete or complete elimination of bacterial counts within short exposure times. This indicates a strong synergistic interaction between physical (laser) and chemical (disinfectant) treatments.
Research Article
Gut Microbiota Dysbiosis as an Independent Predictor of Anxiety Severity: A Large Multicenter Clinical Study
Mohammed Mudhafar Alkhuzaie, Ahmed Sami Salman, Shahad Ali Mahdi
Middle East Research Journal Microbiology and Biotechnology; 113-117.
https://doi.org/10.36348/merjmb.2026.v06i02.007
Background: Recent studies have pointed to the gut microbiota as a key player in neuroimmune and neuropsychiatric function. But, the magnitude of the contribution of microbial dysbiosis to the severity of anxiety, and its interaction with host biological and environmental factors, is not well understood. Objective: To determine if dysbiosis of the gut microbiota is an independent factor in the severity of anxiety in an integrated clinical model that accounts for microbial, host and environmental factors. Methods: One thousand adults (300 with clinically significant anxiety, 700 controls) were recruited for this multicenter observational study. Clinical, demographic and environmental data, including the use of antibiotics, were obtained. Blood samples were used to measure hematological and inflammatory markers, and 16S rRNA sequencing was used to assess the composition of gut microbiota. Correlation analysis, logistic regression and multivariate modeling, accounting for potential confounders, were used to evaluate the associations. Results: People with anxiety had a distinct dysbiotic profile with a decrease in Bifidobacterium and an increase in Clostridium species (p<0.001). The severity of anxiety was positively associated with Clostridium difficile (r = 0.30; adjusted OR = 1.9) and negatively associated with Bifidobacterium longum (r = −0.25; adjusted OR = 0.6). The risk of anxiety was found to be increased by the independent use of antibiotic therapy (adjusted OR = 1.8). Importantly, microbial composition was still significantly correlated with anxiety even after controlling for host biological and environmental factors. The results of our study indicate that a restoration of the microbial balance may be linked to decrease in anxiety severity symptoms, but prospective longitudinal studies are necessary to establish this association. Conclusions: Dysbiosis of gut microbiota is independently linked to anxiety severity, and potentially a modifiable gut–brain axis factor related to anxiety severity. In this study, integrative models of anxiety pathophysiology are supported, and the therapeutic potential of microbiota-targeted interventions is emphasized.
Research Article
Phage Typing of Staphylococcus aureus Isolated from Cancer and Noncancer Patients in Iraq
Mohemid Maddallah Al-Jebouri, Ibraheem Abdul-kareem Al-Ani
Middle East Research Journal Microbiology and Biotechnology; 118-127.
https://doi.org/10.36348/merjmb.2026.v06i02.008
Background: The bacteriophages have been considerably taken as an important aspect of infectious diseases attacking cancer patients particularly the normal flora causing opportunistic diseases among immunocompromised individuals with tumors. Materials and Methods: 400 patients were included and they were 200 patients with cancer diseases and 200 patients complaining of other illnesses. Swabs were taken from nares, sores and wounds and Staphylococcus aureus was isolated and identified. The bacteriophage typing was carried out in the in Unit of Phages/ Division of Bacteriology/ Central Public Health Laboratory/ Baghdad. Results: The present study revealed that 60% (105/175) were typable using the 23 types of bacteriophages which are internationally recognized for lysis of S. aureus. The other 40%(70/175) isolates were un-typable. It was demonstrated that the most common bacteriophages attacking staphylococci were 42E, 88A, 3C and 71 and the total numbers of S. aureus isolates susceptible to these phages were 34, 28, 24 and 22 respectively. The analysis demonstrates marked variability in lysis interaction frequencies among phage types. Phages 42E, 54, and 83A exhibited the strongest lytic interaction frequencies, suggesting high phage compatibility and dominant lysis behavior. Phages 53, 47, and 96 showed weak interaction frequencies, indicating limited lytic association. Conclusions: It was found that most of the isolates of S. aureus were lysed by the phage group III. A low number of bacterial isolates were lysed by phage group M. It was concluded that 18.7% of the bacterial isolates lysed by phage 29 were susceptible to phage 54 at the same time. It was demonstrated that the most common bacteriophages attacking staphylococci were 42E, 88A, 3C and 71 and the total numbers of S. aureus isolates susceptible to these phages were 34, 28, 24 and 22 respectively. The Chi-square test demonstrated a statistically significant difference in the distribution of Staphylococcus aureus phage types between cancer and noncancer patients (p < 0.05). This indicates that some phage types were more frequently associated with either cancer or noncancer isolates.
Research Article
Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Patients with Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Salah-Aldeen Province, Iraq
Mohemid Maddallah Al-Jebouri, Khalid Omer Mohammed Ali
Middle East Research Journal Microbiology and Biotechnology; 128-140.
https://doi.org/10.36348/merjmb.2026.v06i02.009
Background: Mycobacterium is a genus of Gram-positive bacilli that demonstrates the staining characteristic of acid-fastness. Its most important species, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is the most common etiologic agent of tuberculosis. Materials and Methods: This study was carried out in the Antituberculosis and Chest Diseases Center in Tikrit city. Sputa of 479 patients referred to the laboratory were examined. All patients complaining of fever, night sweat, weight loss, cough, shortness of breath and haemoptysis. Socio-demographic characters of the patients were record. These characters included age, gender, occupation, education, residence, income, family history of T.B. and town of birth. X-rays of chest were also carried out and diagnosed. Results: 92 (19.2%) were positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Fifty-three (17.3%) were positive of acid-fast bacilli (AFB) stain, whereas 18.4% were culture positive. Almost 4% of the positive cases of T.B. were seen during May of the year. X-rays of 83 (17%) patients showed signs of pulmonary tuberculosis (T.B.). Socio-demographic characteristics of T.B. patients were also demonstrated and the results were gathered and analyzed. Conclusions: 92 (19.2%) were positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Fifty-three (17.3%) were positive of acid-fast bacilli (AFB) stain, whereas 18.4% were culture positive. Almost 4% of the positive cases of T.B. were seen during May of the year. X-rays of 83 (17%) patients showed signs of pulmonary tuberculosis (T.B.). There was a high frequency of isolation of M. tuberculosis at spring which was 32.6%., while at Autumn revealed 13% of isolation only. The present study shows that 71.8% of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis come from urban areas. The occupational distribution of tuberculosis was not uniform across genders. Tuberculosis cases were disproportionately concentrated among individuals with lower educational attainment and among those belonging to fair or low socioeconomic categories.
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