A review of biochemical structures of Urtica dioica metabolites and their pharmaceutical effects

Phytochemicals are chemical compounds produced by plants during the natural metabolic processes to resisting them fungi, bacteria and plant virus infections, and also consumption by insects and other animals. Phytochemicals is generally used to describe plant compounds that are under research and are often referred to as secondary metabolites. Some phytochemicals have been used as poisons and some others as traditional medicine and Nutrition. The aim of present study was to update a comprehensive review published on Urtica dioica which includes phytochemical and pharmacological synthesis. Urtica dioica or stinging nettle which is Urticaceae family herbaceous perennial, usually grows in temperate regions such as Europe, some places of Asia and western North Africa, New Zealand and North America. Its stem and leaves covered with hairs called trichomes which act like hypodermic needles and inject histamine and some other chemicals. Burning sensation during contact and contact urticaria (contact dermatitis) is visible because of it. A lot of bioactive phytochemical compounds have been identified in the methanolic extract of it

Does the cytomegalovirus infection cause kidney transplant rejection in Erbil city patients, Kurdistan region of Iraq?

Cytomegalovirus (CMV), the most significant infectious agent, belongs to the family of Herpesviridae. There is a high risk of severe viral reactivation among patients with kidney transplantation, particularly in the first three months after transplantation (where patients are at the peak for immune suppression), The infection has a high morbidity rate. Hence, this study was designed to assess the association of CMV infection with kidney transplantation and recognize the symptoms that are more related to kidney transplantation (KT) in the Erbil city, Kurdistan region of Iraq. The study enrolled 72 patients who received renal allograft from March 2018 to December 2019, and this population has been characterized as Middle Eastern descent and ethnic miscegenation. Data included age and gender of the recipient, type of donor, symptomatic and asymptomatic CMV patients. Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) was used to detect and amplify the extracted virus DNA from blood samples. The CMV was found in 43 patients infected with CMV with graft rejection of about 37.21%. While, it was observed in low rate 13.79% in 20 other patients with graft rejection which had free from CMV. The graft rejection rates were significantly higher among the CMV positive group than controls (P= 0.029). In the light of the results of this study, it has been concluded that the CMV infection in patients after kidney transplantation surgery was deemed an important predisposing factor for acute allograft rejection. The study revealed that the screening of CMV among donor could decrease the possibility of kidney graft rejection among recipients

Molecular Characterization of Carbapenem resistant Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae in Erbil, Iraq

Antimicrobial drugs known as carbapenems are used to treat infections caused by bacteria that produce extended-spectrum -lactamases, such as those found in the family Enterobacteriaceae. Carbapenemases in drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria must be identified and differentiated at the phenotypic and molecular levels for effective infection management. Resistance genes in Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli were characterized here by analyzing their phenotypic and genotypic profiles. Genotypic confirmation of carbapenemase synthesis in 98 K. pneumoniae and E. coli isolates was found. PCR was used to look for the metallo-beta-lactamase genes OXA-48 and NDM-1 in the collected isolates. The blaOXA-48 and blaNDM-1 genes were found in 22.45 and 12.24% of the isolates, respectively. The genes for carbapenemase resistance, blaOXA-48, and blaNDM-1, were identified in K. pneumoniae and E. coli isolates from the city of Erbil in the Kurdistan area of Iraq