Background: Around the world, there is no population clear from urinary tract infection (UTI), particularly among women. UTI is considered the most predominant bacterial infection. This study aimed to detect the incidence of the most common major uropathogens in patients severe from UTI with antibiotic-sensitivity tests that assist urologist doctors for appropriate antimicrobial empirical therapy. Materials and Methods: This study was carried in a private laboratory in Babil city, Iraq, from May 2019 to May 2020. A total of 70 individuals suffering from the clear symptoms of UTI, as well as, 20 healthy persons participated in this study as a control group. Then, the standard microbiological methods carried out to isolate and identify the the bacterial species. Antimicrobial‑susceptibility tests were performed using different antimicrobial discs by applying the Kirby–Bauer disc‑diffusion method. Results: Totally, 90 specimens were obtained from them 20 control group, 19 with no growth, and 51 patients with bacterial growth distributed as 43 (83%) females and 8 (17%) males. Escherichia coli were the most common predominant organisms. All isolates were showed a high rate of resistance to evaluated cephalosporins 100% and 82% to cefotaxime and ceftriaxone, respectively, while very low resistance recorded in aminoglycosides 20% and 13% to Gentamicin and amikacin, respectively. Most age group infected with UTI was 21–40 year‑old. Conclusion: The current study showed an increasing burden of UTI caused by various bacteria implicated in UTI that causes changeable sensitivity to various antimicrobial agents. Therefore, in clinical use appropriate medications should be selected based on the data obtained from antimicrobial-susceptibility tests.

Background: Biliary tree obstruction and consequent jaundice occur in 70%–90% of these patients and have important consequences mainly for the patient’s quality of life, morbidity, and overall mortality. Percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD) is an excellent palliative procedure to drain the bile ducts in malignant obstruction. We compared left- and right-sided approach in relief of malignant obstruction. The most common causes of malignant biliary obstruction (MBO) include pancreatic adenocarcinoma, hilar cholangiocarcinoma, ampullary/ duodenal adenocarcinoma, gallbladder adenocarcinoma, lymphoma, and compressive metastatic peri-portal lymph node Materials and Methods: This study was a prospective, hospital‑based study performed for 2 years from 2016 to 2018. PTBD was performed either through right in 16 patients or left approach in 15 patients. Two approaches were compared in terms of clinical and technological success, changes in laboratory data, internalization and survival. Results: (1) Rate of technological success was 100%. (2) There was a significant reduction in bilirubin, alanine transaminase (ALT), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels after the procedure in both the approaches, but the decrease was more in the right‑sided approach. Only the decrease in bilirubin levels was statistically significant. The decrease in albumin was attributed to the progression of the disease. (3) Clinical success was seen in 93.33% and 93.75% in left‑ and right‑sided approach. (4) Internalization was done in 86.67% patients in the left‑lobe approach, while as in right‑lobe approach, it was done in 93.75% patients. Conclusion: PTBD causes a significant reduction in the bilirubin level, irrespective of the amount of liver drained or the type of drainage (external/internal). In our study, the reduction in bilirubin, ALT and ALP was more in the right-lobe approach. However, only reductions in levels of bilirubin were statistically significant.

The coronavirus adheres to the nasal ciliated epithelium and replicates before transporting it to the nasopharynx. Immunopathogenesis and
severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19) are influenced by viral and immune system factors. COVID‑19 infection is capable of producing an excessive immune reaction in the host that called a cytokine storm. The effect is extensive tissue destruction. Detection and monitoring of the immunopathological changes in patients with COVID‑19 may provide potential targets for drug development and discovery, besides it is necessary for clinical management. Immunoglobulin A (IgA) is the most abundant antibody class present at mucosal surfaces, including the upper respiratory tract, providing the first line of defense in mucosal immunity at the primary site of virus infection. Secretory IgA neutralizes the virus without causing inflammation because of its inability to fix and activate the complement cascade. Hence, it is suggested that induction of the mucosal immune response is more desirable to prevent respiratory infection to avoid unregulated inflammatory innate responses and impaired adaptive immune responses that may lead to locally and systemically harmful tissue damage. The advantage of IgA for protecting mucosal surfaces, such as the respiratory tract, relates to the presence of a specialized mechanism for transporting oligomeric IgA across epithelial surfaces.

Treatment of the oral cavity leukoplakia, a potentially malignant lesion, is presently not evidenced based. Leukoplakia is a premalignant lesion of the oral cavity which has increased risk for oral cancer. If the leukoplakia is treated in its incipient stage, the chance of occurrence of the oral cancer can be reduced. Although there are several treatment options for leukoplakia, there is no specific and appropriate one for minimizing the malignant transformation of the leukoplakia. Tobacco and prolonged use of alcohol can cause significant risk factors toward origin of the oral cavity leukoplakia. Surgical excision, cryotherapy, and laser excision are the useful modes of the treatment for oral leukoplakia, but the minimizing the risk of the malignant transformation is still doubtful. However, the medical treatment for oral cavity leukoplakia is often attractive particularly to prevent the transformation of the leukoplakia into malignancy. The medical treatment is based on chemoprevention such as Vitamin A and retinoid, carotenoids, tea extract, bleomycin, and Vitamin C have been used although with inconclusive output. The nonsurgical treatment overweighs because of its non-invasiveness, good cosmetic result, well tolerated by the patient without cumulative toxicity and used when the surgery is avoided or contraindicated. In this review article, we will discuss different nonsurgical treatment options for oral cavity leukoplakia.

Luteolin (3′,4′,5,7‑tetrahydroxyflavone), the flavone subclass of flavonoids(with the principal yellow crystalline appearance), typically occurs as glycosylated forms in several plant products including celery, Chamomile tea, green pepper, and Perilla leaf, and as an aglycone in Perilla seeds. Other dietary sources include artichoke, broccoli, carrots, chicory greens, dandelion, kohlrabi, olive oil, peppermint, pumpkin, rosemary, navel oranges, oregano, radicchio, red leaf lettuce, and thyme. Luteolin was also reported in Achillea millefolium (commonly known as yarrow), Erigeron canadensis (horseweed or Canadian horseweed), Limonium sinuatum (known as wavyleaf sea lavender), Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle), Reseda luteola (the plant known as dyer’s rocket or dyer’s weed), Satureja obovata (Savory or Bean herb), and Vitex rotundifolia (the round leaf chaste tree or beach vitex).

The abnormal discoloration of urine or container bag is visually striking phenomenon and may put patient and relatives into unwanted apprehension. The cases with purple discoloration of the urine are sporadically reported in the literature. This unusual but well described phenomenon is termed purple urine bag syndrome (PUBS). Prolonged indwelling catheterization in some cases results in this peculiar condition

Myristica fragrans is a tree indigenous to India, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka, and is widespread in Asia, Caribbean, and South America. The tree is 10–20 m tall and its seed is the source of spice nutmeg, whereas mace is obtained from
the aril. The chemical composition of the seed includes 4-terpineol, citronellol, elemicin, isoeugeunol, limonene, linalool, methoxyeugeunol, methyl eugeunol, myrislignan, myristicin, sabinene, safrole, terpinolene, fatty acid trimyristin, α-myrcena, α-pinene, α-terpinene, α-terpineol, α-thujene, β-asarone, β-ocimene, γ-terpinene, and macelignan in the rhizome.

Background: Drug-drug interactions (DDIs) in oncology are significantly crucial because chemotherapeutic drugs usually have a narrow
therapeutic index. Many DDIs are expected to be present between chemotherapeutic agents and chronically used medications as the number of DDIs increases in parallel with the number of drugs taken. Because of the limited literature about this area in Sudan. Thus, this study was conducted to assess the DDIs between chemotherapeutic and chronically used medications in Sudanese patients. Methods: This study was carried out in Khartoum Oncology Hospital from March to May 2019. The data were collected using data collection sheets that were filled from patient records and direct interviews with the patients. The presence of DDIs was detected by Lexicomp® drug interaction software. Results: A total of 117 patients have been involved in this study. The main DDIs between chemotherapeutic and chronically used medications were identified in 20.5% of patients, which represented 8% of the total DDIs between all drugs. Of these, 76% of the DDIs were pharmacodynamic (PD), 20% were pharmacokinetic (PK), and 4% were both PD and PK. The majority (92%) of these DDIs have been moderate in severity and had the risk rate of C (84%). 12.5% of these patients experienced clinical consequences for which they were admitted to the emergency department. DDIs between antihypertensive medications and paclitaxel were the most common (68%). There was a significant association between the age and the presence of DDIs (P = 0.017) Conclusion: DDIs between chemotherapeutic and chronically used medications represented 8% of the total identified DDIs in the study patients.

Background: Neonatal sepsis is one of the most common causes of neonatal mortality and morbidity. Before getting the culture results, it is necessary to initiate empirical antibiotics based on the epidemiology of causative agents and antibiotic sensitivity patterns in the area. Our study aimed to determine the bacteriological profile of common etiologic agents of neonatal sepsis and their antibiotics‑sensitivity pattern. Methodology: This study was a descriptive, cross‑sectional, retrospective hospital‑based survey of 250 neonates’ reports with positive blood culture, which was carried out in the Department of Clinical Microbiology and Parasitology of Soba University hospital from January 1, 2017, to July 31, 2017. The data were collected by using a predesigned checklist and were analyzed by using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Univariate, as well as multivariate analysis, were performed in this study to analyze the data. Results: Gram‑negative bacteria were commonly isolated (56%). The most frequently isolated organism was Staphylococcus aureus (34.8%) followed by Pseudomonas species (33.6%) and Klebsiella species (15.2%). Moreover, overall sensitivity among Gram‑negative isolates was to imipenem (87.1%), followed by ciprofloxacin (84.7%) and amikacin (75.9%), whereas Gram‑positive isolates had a high sensitivity of (93.6%) to vancomycin. Conclusion: Among the studied samples, the most frequently isolated organism was S. aureus. The overall sensitivity among Gram‑negative isolates was higher to imipenem ciprofloxacin and amikacin, whereas Gram‑positive isolates had a high sensitivity to vancomycin.

Background: Berberine is a natural compound found to have numerous pharmacological activities such as anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. It has been the subject of intensive scientific research; however, there have been scanty information on its subacute effect on the heart and kidney. Aims: This work was done to investigate the hepatocellular changes induced by berberine in adult Wistar rats. Materials and Methods: Twenty adult apparently healthy rats were used for this study. The rats were divided into four groups of five per group and fed with pellets and water ad libitum. Group A served as the control, Group B were fed with 2 mg/kg of berberine, Group C with 20 mg/kg, while Group D were fed with 200 mg/kg body weight. Doses were administered once daily using oral gavage for 28 days. Prior to the time of sacrificing the animals, blood samples were collected into plain test tubes and the animals anesthetized before sacrifice. Necropsy was performed, and the tissues (heart and kidneys) processed and stained using hematoxylin and eosin-staining techniques. Serum electrolyte (sodium and potassium), urea, creatinine, creatine kinase, and lactate dehydrogenase were analyzed. Statistical Analysis Used: Data obtained from the study were statistically analyzed using SPSS software (version 21). Results: There were significant increases in urea and creatinine (40.05 ± 14.32, P = 0.031 and 1.93 ± 0.80, P = 0.044) as well as potassium (7.45 ± 1.81, P = 0.026) in the 200 mg/kg-treated animals when compared with the control (14.59 ± 8.03, 0.40 ± 0.03, and 3.60 ± 1.01). The histological architecture of the kidneys showed glomerular atrophy in the 200 mg/kg-treated rats. There was no noticeable histological alteration in the heart. Conclusions: The result showed that berberine was toxic to the kidney at concentrations high as 200 mg/kg.