Investigating the impact of the genetic variant CXCR1 (rs2234671) in individuals with urinary tract infections.

BACKGROUND: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are currently posing a worldwide health concern by affecting millions of people. The genetic variant rs2234671 in the CXCR1-interleukin-8 receptor is closely related to a raised UTI risk. OBJECTIVES: In this work, the impact of CXCR1 (rs2234671) on UTI individuals was examined. METHODS: The demographic features of 30 recurrent UTI patients and 20 controls were thoroughly investigated. Bacterial isolation and identification were performed by the implementation of cultural and biochemical methods. DNA extraction, purification of all samples from both patients and healthy people, and IL-8 rs2234671 (C/G) SNP genotyping using T-ARMS-PCR were performed. The significance of the results was evaluated by carrying out a statistical analysis. FINDINGS: The patient's average age was 34.63 ± 11.44 years, and controls averaged 30.30 ± 8.59 years (P= 0.156). No significant gender difference existed (P= 0.804). Escherichia coli (63.3%) was predominant, followed by Proteus mirabilis (26.7%), Enterococcus faecalis (23.3%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (10.0%), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (20.0%). No significant association was found between bacterial species frequency, age, or sex. From the CXCR1 (rs2234671) frequency comparison, a higher GG genotype incidence in UTI patients than controls was extracted (26.7% vs. 15.0%), though not statistically significant. Risk analysis revealed that GG homozygous and C/G heterozygous genotypes were not UTI risk factors (OR = 2.47 and OR = 1.85, respectively). Moreover, the allele frequencies displayed no significant difference between the patients and controls (G allele: 66.7% vs. 66.7%; C allele: 33.3% vs. 33.3%). MAIN CONCLUSIONS: Although no significant association between CXCR1 (rs2234671) and UTI was found, the GG genotype may point to the increasing probability of UTI risk. Additional research is required to confirm and expand these conclusions.

mRNA expression of the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor in the lung tissue of Wistar rats according to age.

Background and Aim: Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is expressed and plays functional and physiological roles in different tissues of the body. This study aimed to distinguish the levels of expression of ACE2 in the lung tissue at different ages of rats. Materials and Methods: In this study, 18 male rats were used and divided into three groups according to age. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was conducted to determine the levels of the quantification of eosinophil cationic protein mRNA transcript. In addition, tissue specimens of the lung were stained with routine hematoxylin and eosin stains. Results: This study confirmed that RT-qPCR amplification plots of ACE2 gene exhibited clearly expression of the lung tissue of rats in the different groups and there are strong different threshold cycles numbers according to the age at 2 weeks, 2 months, and 6-8 months. Consequently, the expression of ACE2 was completely different between groups depending on the age of the rats. The RT-qPCR results showed that the older animal group (age of 6-8 months) had a significantly higher expression of ACE2 than the other animal groups (ages of 2 weeks and 2 months). In the same way, the second group (age of 2 months) had a significantly higher expression of ACE2 than the first group (age of 2 weeks). This study confirmed that the ACE2 expression is influenced by the age of rats. Conclusion: This study concluded that the expression of the ACE2 receptor of coronavirus disease 2019 would be different according to the age of rats, and this result suggested that expression of ACE2 in lung tissue could determine infection and pathogenesis of COVID-19 during different ages of rats or some individual differences.

Clinical, molecular detection and phylogenetic analysis study of local foot-and-mouth disease virus in Al-Qadisiyah province of Iraq.

AIM: This study was directed during an outbreak of suspected foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in cattle in Al-Qadisiyah province, Iraq 2016. The disease has made a huge economic loss in livestock. It was suspected that the vaccination has failed to protect the animals from the infection because of the difference in the strains. Consequently, we designed the study to make the diagnosis and detect the strain of the causative virus. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The extraction of the DNA was done on 73 samples and Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) was used in the detection of FMD virus (FMDV) for primary diagnosis, and serotype-specific diagnosis was done with universal primer sets 1F/1R, A-1C612, and O-ARS4 with the expected band of 329, 865, and 1301 bp, respectively. RESULTS: Universal primer pair 1F/1R detected FMD in 55 of 73 (75.3%); of these, 37 (67.3%) were females and 18 (32.7%) were males, with high significance (p<0.01) between males and females in the PCR positivity ratio. The tested samples with positive universal primer were amplified with specific primers A-IC612 with no reaction for serotype O-ARS4. CONCLUSION: The products of RT-PCR were sent for RNA sequencing, and the results were 100% positive to serotype A which means that it is the predominant type in Iraq. It may help in the importing or production of the vaccine to make a preventive plan for the disease. The virus of FMD is contagious and dangerous due to its role in the huge economic loses. The detection of this virus is widely explained in lots of articles, but it is more specific and sensitive in RT-PCR and sequencing. Consequently, the authorities responsible for importing and/or production vaccines have to avoid the importing of other serotypes because it will be losing money and more outbreaks will explode.