Jundishapur Journal of Microbiology
Volume:6 Issue: 8, Oct 2013

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) can cause acute respiratory infection (ARI) in infants and young children.. This study was conducted to determine the incidence of RSV infection and its subgroups among children with ARI.. A total of 100 throat samples were collected from hospitalized children with ARI in different hospitals across the Khuzestan province from June 2009 to April 2010. The samples were tested for RSV by the nested PCR. The product of positive RSV was sequenced to determine the RSV subgroup, followed by phylogenic tree.. Of total 100 patients, 29 (29%) including 16 (16%) male and 13 (13%) female were found positive for RSV infection. All the RSV positive patients were subgroup A dominant. High prevalence of RSV (8%) was found among the children under one year in contrast to 2% RSV incidence among the age group 6 years.. This study revealed that RSV subgroup A is dominant among the young children especially in children less than one year of age..

Oral infections and dental caries are still considered as serious public health problem and inflict a costly burden to health care services around the world especially in developing countries.. In the present study, we evaluated the antibacterial activity of Capsella bursa-pastoris alone and also combined with Glycyrrhiza glabra against Streptococcus mutans, S. sanguis, Actinomyces viscosus, Enterococcus faecalis as oral pathogens.. The antimicrobial activities of an ethanol extract of C. bursa-pastoris alone and in combination with G. glabra were in vitro tested against six reference strains of oral pathogenic bacteria. The antimicrobial activities of the extracts were examined using disc diffusion method and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) determined by both broth and Agar dilution methods and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) by broth dilution methods.. In this study, C. bursa-pastoris extract showed good antibacterial activity against six bacteria in using in of the mentioned methods. No strain in this study showed resistance against this extract. Antibacterial activity of mixed extract including C. bursa-pastoris and G. glabra was evaluated and showed that mixed extract was more effective against all bacteria than any of the cases alone that indicate the synergistic effect between these two extracts.. C. bursa-pastoris and its mixture with G. glabra are suggested as appropriate candidates to control dental caries and endodontic infections..

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is replicated through reverse transcription of polymerase gene. Lamivudine can postpone the clinical progression in Hepatitis B infected patients, but the long-term monotherapy causes the emerge of YMDD (tyrosine-methionine-aspartate-aspartate), LLAQ (leucine–leucine–alanine–glutamine) motifs and increases the Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and HBV DNA levels.. The aim of this study was to investigate rtL180M and rtM204V mutations in polymerase gene of HBV in infected patients after Lamivudine therapy..Patients and Fifty sera samples collected from patients who referred to Blood Transfusion Center in Tehran were studied. The samples were divided into two groups; treated and untreated based on antiviral treatment status. From 50 patients, 34% were males and 66% were females, aged between 18 and 80 years. All of samples were tested for anti hepatitis B e antibody (anti-HBe), hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg), hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. The ALT levels were measured using a commercial kit. Then HBV-DNA was extracted from serum samples using a commercial kit and a fragment of the P gene was amplified by nested PCR. Also, HBV viral load was detected by Real-Time PCR. HBV genotypes and polymerase gene mutations were determined by direct sequencing of the polymerase gene of HBV. Phylogenetic tree was constructed using neighbor-joining (NJ) method.. About 6% (3 of 50) of samples were HBeAg positive and 94% (47 of 50) of patients were HBeAg negative by ELISA method. The patients'' ALT level was between 16 and 95 IU/L with the mean of 37.58 IU/L. Also, 48% (24 of 50) of samples had < 104 IU/mL viral load, 52% (26 of 50) of them had > 104 IU/mL viral load. About 10% (5 of 50) of samples was treated with Lamivudine with specific substitution of amino acid located at codons 80, 180 and 204. In addition, phylogenetic tree showed that genotype D of HBV was dominant among Iranian HBV infected patients. This study showed that the presence of mutation at codons rtL80V, rtL180M and rtM204V in A, B and C domains is associated with higher viral load and resistance to Lamivudine (3TC) respectively..

Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and Tannerella forsythensis are two major pathogens in destructive periodontal disease in humans. The detection of these bacteria is needed for diagnosis and management of the mentioned diseases.. We aimed to develop and compare improved multiplex conventional and SYBR green real time PCR assays for a specific diagnosis of the organisms based on specific marker genes.. Both PCR approaches were performed with primers targeting diagnostic genes of the organisms, hbpA gene of A. actinomycetemcomitans and 16S rRNA gene of T. forsythensis. For preparation of a stable positive control, the PCR products were cloned into pTZ57R/T plasmid. The test specificity was evaluated using the same PCR reactions but in the presence of genomes of various negative control bacteria.. As expected, agarose gel electrophoresis of PCR products of the hbpA and 16S rRNA genes showed 160 bp and 250bp bands respectively. Temperature melting analyses of the SYBR green real time PCR assays showed the Tm at 78.02 °C and 84.62 °C for hbpA and 16S rRNA genes respectively. The amplification results using negative control genomes as template was negative showing the specificity of both designed assays. The detection limits of the conventional PCR assay for hbpA and 16S rRNA genes were 5200 and 1200 copies of each gene, respectively. The designed SYBR green PCR assays tenfold increased the test sensitivity.. The designed assays provide simple, reliable, and rapid procedures that identify two main periodontal pathogens. Theses assays are new diagnostic opportunities in our laboratory and also are working as important supplements of the current time consuming phenotypic assays..

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a common bacterial disease which may cause chronic renal failure and hypertension. Many reports suggest that the rate of antibiotic resistance to infectious organisms is increasing.. This study aimed to detect and also compare the frequency and drug resistance pattern of Gram negative bacteria isolated from patients with community-acquired UTIs in Isfahan..Patients and In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 702 samples from 476 females and 226 males referred to medical centers in Isfahan city from June to September 2011 were collected, we investigated the urine cultures and antibiotic sensitivity of the isolated organisms were measured.. Urinary infectious was detected in 203 persons. The most prevalence isolated bacteria were Escherichia coli 138 (68%), followed by Klebsiella spp. (13%). Antibiotic resistance pattern of Gram negative bacteria isolated was investigated. Among E. coli isolates the most antibiotic sensitivity and resistance were related to Nitrofurantoin, Cotrimoxazol and Nalidixic acid, Trimetsulpha respectively. Klebsiella spp. isolates were the most antibiotic sensitive to Cotrimoxazol and Cipropheloxacin and the most antibiotic resistant to Trimetsulpha, Cipropheloxacin and Nalidixic respectively.. With regards to the continuous changing in causative microorganisms isolated from patients with UTI and antibiotic sensitivity patterns, it is recommended that bacterial sensitivity patterns in populations are determined in any region annually.. .

Context: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) concentrated in injecting drug users (IDUs) is a major public health in Iran as well as throughout the world. Health care workers (HCW) are occupationally at the risk of HIV infection. The aim of this article is to review the information about the IDUs, epidemiology, diagnosis, natural course of infection, immunopathogenesis, and occupational risks associated with managing HIV in the health care workplace..Evidence Acquisition: Information obtained from previous investigation on HIV infection has yielded a better knowledge about HIV.. Because HCWs are at the risk of HIV infection from IDUs attending the health care units, knowledge about preventive strategy and the efficacy of post exposure anti-viral therapy enables general physicians to manage these every moment events.. Based on existing data, HIV infection surveillance, performance of standard precaution, and post exposure prophylaxis with anti-retroviral drugs outlined in this review article represent reasonable interim approaches to this complex problem..

The feather is an environmental pollutant that can be degraded by bacterial and fungal microorganisms. The keratin sheets constitute 90% of the feather mass. Due to the extremely rigid structure, keratin is insoluble and hard to degrade. Some microorganisms such as Bacillus spp. were reported to be able to degrade keratin by secretion of keratinase.. The aim of this study was the isolation of feather degrading Bacillus spp.from a poultry waste and the optimization of conditions for the highest enzyme activity and feather degradation.. The microorganisms were isolated from the waste of a poultry in Miyaneh, Iran, and the Bacillus spp. were identified using morphological, physiological and biochemical tests. The Bacillus spp. cultured in a medium consisted of feather at pH 7.4 and 27 ºC for seven days to identify the feather-degrading Bacillus spp. The biochemical tests were performed to determine the strain of the bacterium. The study was repeated under different pH and temperatures to find the optimum conditions for best enzyme activity.. The PCR approved the Bacillus genus of the isolates. The strain of Bacillus subtilis was identified using biochemical tests. 40 ºC and pH 11 are the optimum condition for maximum keratinase enzyme activity.. B. subtilis was found to be able to degrade the feather..

Multi-drug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa causes serious complications in burn patients. One of the most important mechanisms of resistance to β-lactam antibiotics is hydrolysis of antibiotics by various β-lactamases. In recent years, Carbapenems have been widely used for treatment of P. aeruginosa infections. However, the organisms have become resistant to Carbapenems mostly by producing metallo β-lactamases.. The aim of this study was to determine antibiotic susceptibility, production of extended spectrum and AmpC β-lactamases in metallo β-lactamase producing P. aeruginosa burn isolates.. Antibiotic susceptibility of 135 P. aeruginosa burn isolates was determined by disc diffusion. Metallo β-lactamase production was screened by the double disc synergy test. Metallo β-lactamase producing bacteria were then tested for extended spectrum β-lactamase production by the combined disc diffusion method. AmpC production was carried out using AmpC disc test.. There was 99% resistance to Carbenicillin, and Ticarcillin, 98% to Cotrimoxazole, 96% to Ciprofloxacin, and Aztreonam, 95% to Imipenem, and Meropenem, 94% to Pperacillin, 93% to Tobramycin, 92% to Cefepime, 90% to Amikacin, 89% to Ceftazidime, and 87% to Piperacillin-tazobactam. Among the 128 Imipenem resistant isolates, 32 (25%) were capable of producing metallo β-lactamases of which, 4 (12.5%) produced extended spectrum and 26 (81%) produced AmpC β-lactamases. Four isolates (12.5%) produced all 3 types.. This study showed that multiple β-lactamases can be produced in burn isolates. This suggests that use of Cephalosporins and Carbapenems should be restricted in burn isolates to minimize the development and spread of these multidrug resistant pathogens..

Organisms producing CTX-M -lactamases are known as the source of resistance to Oxyiminocephalosporins such as Eeftriaxone and Ceftazidime. However, the laboratory detection of these strains is not well defined.. The aim of this study was to determine the presence and prevalence of known CTX-M-beta- beta-lactamase genes in clinical isolates of Enterobacteriaceae from Arak educational hospitals, Iran.. During a 10-month period (May to February 2010), 350 randomly Enterobacteriaceae isolates were obtained from the clinical laboratories of different hospitals of Arak University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Antibiotic susceptibility was tested by CLSI disk diffusion and extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) confirmatory tests. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MICs) was determined by broth micro dilution. All of the ESBL-producing isolates were examined by PCR to detect the presence of bla CTX-M genes.. In phenotypic confirmatory test, 154 (44%) out of 350 clinical isolates were ESBL positive. Using molecular assay, 154 strains potentially producing extended-spectrum-beta -lactamases were examined for the presence of CTX-M enzymes. 92.2% isolates CTX-M - 1, 28.5% isolates CTX-M-2, 17.5% isolates CTX-M-8, and 38.3% isolates CTX-M-9 genes detected by PCR.. The levels of resistance to Ceftazidime were remarkably variable among CTX-Mproducers. This study provides further evidences of the global dissemination of CTX-M type ESBLs and emphasized on the need for their epidemiological monitoring..

Toxoplasma gondii is one of the most important pathogen that has adverse effect on reproductive function..Evidence Acquisition: Recent studies revealed that infection with T. gondii not only affect female reproduction, also cause male reproductive impairment. In clinical studies, high prevalence of toxoplasmosis in sterile men has been reported. In animal models, toxoplasmosis is associated with male reproductive impairment. Moreover, there are some evidences about venereal transmission of T. gondii. Drugs used for treatment of toxoplasmosis may cause adverse effects on male reproductive function.. In present article, effect of Toxoplasma infection on male reproductive system of human and animal was reviewed. There are several reports expressing association between Toxoplasmosis and male genital tract impairment in both human and animals.. These findings suggest that T. gondii infection can cause temporary impairment on the reproductive parameters of human or animal male as well as impairment of different hormones which may cause insufficient male reproductivity..

Chronic rhinosinusitis is an inflammatory-infectious disease involved paranasal sinuses as a common site of microbial pathogens and infections in patients suffering from the disease. The disease is labeled chronic when it lasts for more than 12 weeks.. As these infections constitute an important cause of morbidity it can be a strong life-threatening factor, in this investigation we examine the bacterial strains involved in development of chronic rhinosinusitis.. This research was a prospective study of the bacterial strains involved in development of chronic rhinosinusitis in patients referred to Bou-Ali Sina Hospital in Sari, Iran. The study population included 253 patients with chronic rhinosinusitis. Samples were collected from all patients’ nasal discharge, which were cultured to investigate the type of microbial infection. The staining methods were Gram staining, Chinese ink staining, acid-fast staining and Papanicolaou staining. Finally, specific tests for detection and differentiation of the strains were performed.. Out of 253 patients, 124 (49.1%) were adult male, 49 (19/36%) were adult female and 80 patients (31.62%) were children under 5 years. The most common clinical symptoms including post-nasal drip (40.47%) and headache (32.62%). In general, the most isolated bacteria were Staphylococcus aureus (37.1%) and Pneumococcus (23.53%).. In this study, it was found that S. aureus and Pneumococcus contributed the most to development of chronic rhinosinusitis..

Avermectin B1b, a component of commercially available abamectin is obtained as fermentation product of S. avermitilis and has frequently been used as anthelmintic and insecticidal agent. Secondary metabolite production, avermectin B1b in present study, is dependent on medium composition therefore a proper medium should be designed for the fermentation process in order to have the best production.. The main objective of this study was the selection and optimization of medium for maximum production of avermectin B1b from S. avermitilis 41445.. Eight different growth media were used for the production of avermectin B1b.. However the maximum production of avermectin B1b (17 mg/L) was obtained by using SM2 growth medium containing soluble corn starch, yeast extract, KCl, CaCO3 and MgSO4 which was detected qualitatively by using TLC and quantitatively by HPLC.. Maximum production was observed with initial medium pH of 7, 10% inoculum size with incubation temperature of 31°C for 10 days of fermentation period..

Tinea versicolor is a superficial mycosis caused by Malassezia furfur, and is exclusively localized in the corneal layer of adults epidermis.. To evaluate the epidemiological features of tinea versicolor, including its incidence among different age groups, genders and other personal status.. The study was conducted between 2009 and 2011 on 1023 patients who presented skin disease suspected to tinea versicolor. Of all patients; 671 females (66%) and 352 males (34%) were studied for this mycosis and the fungal distribution from the view point of age and anatomical region of mycosis were analyzed.. The disease was more prevalent in 21-40 years old age group in both genders. The most infected anatomical regions were posterior surface, the body trunk (shoulder, supra scapula and lumbar region), anterior thorax and abdomen, respectively. The number of female cases was significantly more than males; this probably reflects the concern of females about their skin health.. Patients who regularly use the local saunas had poor personal hygiene and greasy skin, and were more suspected to tinea versicolor infection..

Meat contamination has been linked to consumer health problems, as proved by outbreaks and recalls from market places. Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, and Salmonella spp. are considered among the most important pathogens which can be spread through meat and meat products consumption.. The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of E. coli O157:H7, L. monocytogenes, and Salmonella spp. in different kinds of meat marketed in Ahvaz, South-west part of Iran.. A total of 210 samples of beef, buffalo and lamb meats were collected from retail outlets and popular supermarkets. After each single pathogen and DNA extraction, multiplex PCR as a rapid and cost-effective method was carried out to determine the prevalence of the pathogens in the samples.. L. monocytogenes was detected in 2.8% of beef and buffalo samples and 4.3% of lamb samples. E. coli O157:H7 was detected in 2.8% of beef and 1.4% of buffalo samples. However, no contamination with this pathogen was found in lamb samples. The prevalence of Salmonella spp. in beef, buffalo and lamb samples was 4.3, 2.8 and 7.1%, respectively.. Due to the presence and potential hazard of E. coli O157:H7, L. monocytogenes, and Salmonella spp. in meat samples, the detection of these pathogens in different kinds of meat is crucial to safeguard public health..

In the last two decades the incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are dramatically increased and remain a major public health problem in developing countries. Trichomoniasis is the most common non-viral sexually transmitted infection caused by Trichomonas vaginalis which is a flagellated protozoon associated with vaginitis, cervicitis and urethritis. Researchers believed that pregnancy is one of the influencing factors of the genital trichomoniasis in women.. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of trichomoniasis in pregnant women in Zanjan, Iran.. In this cross-sectional study, 1000 pregnant women were examined for diagnosis of trichomoniasis based on direct microscopic examination and culture method. They referred to the treatment and health centers of Zanjan, Northwest Iran, Demographic and personal information of the subjects were collected and evaluated with questionnaires.. Thirty-three out of one thousand examined individuals (3.3%) presented vaginal infection with T. vaginalis. Infection in women with lower gestational age, higher mothers’ age, higher parity and living in city were significantly associated with increased risk of vaginal trichomoniasis (P < 0.05). Other variables were not significantly associated with parasite infection.. The present study found that the infection with T. vaginalis is a health problem in pregnant women correlated with some epidemiological variables and can be considered with microbiological screening tests during pregnancy..

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is one the major health concern among the infected transplant patients. Considering several complications of the disease in them, pre and post-transplantation studies should be performed for monitoring of the infection, as well as, developing new treatment protocols.. The current study was conducted to determine the Hepatitis C Virus RNA level among seropositive liver and kidney transplant recipients in Namazi Hospital; the main transplantation center in southern Iran.. RNAs were extracted from 105 serum samples of seropositive liver and kidney transplant recipients and analyzed by Real-time PCR assay using a set of primers.. HCV RNA was detected in a total of 46/105 (43.8%) recipients’ serum samples [39/46 (84.8%) males and 7/46 (15.2%) females]. Moreover, 8/46 (17.4%) and 38/46 (82.6%) were kidney and liver recipients, respectively. The copy number of HCV RNA, measured by the Real-time PCR assay, ranged from 5 × 102 to 3.14 × 109 copies/mL; Median 2.37 × 105 copies/mL and 1.7 × 103 to 9.44 × 104 copies/mL; Median 2.89 × 104 copies/mL in liver and renal transplant patients, respectively. The comparison of viral load between liver pre transplant recipients group and post transplant counterpart indicated that the copy number of HCV RNA was significantly higher in the post transplant recipients (P = 0.033). The prevalence of the viral nucleic acid was significantly higher in males than in females (P = 0.026). Similarly, with regards to the age groups, the prevalence of HCV RNA was significantly higher in age group ≥ 45 years than age group < 45 years (P = 0.028).. Considering the results, it can be concluded that HCV RNA detection is strongly suggested in transplant patients group to determine the prevalence of the disease and their responses to antiviral therapy and diagnosis of drug resistance. In addition, continuous and regular surveillance of HCV RNA level in such patients is highly recommended in order to better manage the complications of graft loss and reduce the mortality rate. Further studies are needed to find new therapeutic methods to lower the incidence of infection of new healthy allograft tissues in HCV RNA positive recipients..

Alpha-amylases are digestive enzymes which hydrolyze starch glycosidic bonds to glucose, maltose, maltotriose and dextrin which have diverse applications in a wide range of industries such as food, textile, paper, detergents representing approximately 30% of the world enzyme production.. In this study, the gene encoding the alpha-amylase enzyme of native isolated Bacillus subtilis was amplified with specific primers containing of NotI and AscI restriction sites by PCR and then sequenced. Purified PCR product and shuttle episomal vector p316TDH3 were cut by restriction enzymes and cloned into Escherichia coli and yeast hosts.. The haploid auxotroph (ura3-) strain of S. cerevisiae and p316TDH3 were used as the host and vector for cloning and expression of the alpha amylase gene, respectively. In native Bacillus sp. the amyE gene without signal sequence was amplified with specific primers that introduced AscI and NotI restriction sites. After constructing the recombinant plasmid, it was transformed into E. coli competent cells. Then, colonies selection and confirmation were performed and the extracted plasmid was introduced to competent yeast cells using carrier sperm DNA. Recombinant yeast cells could grow on minimal media and produce extracellular enzyme.. The presence of alpha-amylase gene in recombinant bacteria was certificated by colony-PCR method. After extraction of recombinant vector from E. coli, the competent S. cerevisiae cells were transformed using polyethylene glycol and carrier sperm DNA. The recombinant yeast strains were screened by URA3 auxotrophic marker and analyzed for alpha-amylase gene existence. In the other hand, the amylase gene length of native B. subtilis was1887base pairs (bp) with an approximately93.65% similarity with standard bacterial strain.. Based on this similarity and our bioinformatics evaluations, this mentioned alpha-amylase gene can be expressed in S. cerevisiae as extracellular enzyme..

Antibiotics and corresponding resistance genes and resistant bacteria have been considered as emerging pollutants worldwide. Excessive and incorrect use of antimicrobials in human and veterinary medicine, as well as their metaphylactic application in livestock are considered to be key aspects of this current situation.. The current study aimed to investigate the resistance of Escherichia coli against six antibiotics, in Bam.. This descriptive study was performed on 300 samples with positive cultures of E. coli in 2006-2007 at the Central Laboratory and the Pasteur hospital in Bam city. Information related to this study was first collected by visiting the above laboratories and completing questionnaires and then recorded in the Excel program and analyzed using the SPSS software and chi-square statistical method.. In this study, high resistances were found to nalidixic acid (59.7%) and gentamicin (52.3%) but high susceptibilities were found to ciprofloxacin (59.3%) and ceftriaxone (36.3%).. According to the results obtained in this study ciprofloxacin is an effective antibiotic in E. coli infections..

Human influenza is an acute and self-limited disease that is caused by viruses including types A, B, C. These viruses are related to RNA viruses and belonging to the family of Orthomyxoviridae. They are divided into other sub-species based on surface antigens, including hemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N). The new virus of the group that was isolated from swine was called as influenza A (H1N1) virus.. The purpose of this study is an investigation on the frequency distribution of cases affected by influenza A (H1N1) based on demographic characteristics during 2008–2009 in Yazd Province..Patients and This is a descriptive cross-sectional study that was done with the information related to patients that were available at the Health Center of Yazd Province. Of 1442 patients suspected to influenza, during 2008 – 2009 years, 253 throat samples were positive with RT-PCR (reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction) method and were confirmed for viruses.. 111 female and 142 male were available from a total of 253 confirmed H1N1 cases. The minimum and maximum ages were 1.5 and 90 years, respectively. The most common symptoms were fever and cough. 144 cases had record of hospitalization, 100 cases were undergone outpatient treatment and nine cases have not recorded the treatment status. The most frequent underlying manifestation was hypertension.. According to this study, due to higher hypertension frequency in patients, hypertension should be considered in other diseases in Iran for preventing influenza..

Acinetobacter baumannii has emerged as a cause of nosocomial infections in hospitalized patients, particularly in intensive care units. Carbapenems are a common choice for treating nosocomial infections caused by A. baumannii strains. Increasing antimicrobial resistance among Acinetobacter isolates has been documented and multidrug-resistant A. baumannii is recognized to be among the most difficult antimicrobial-resistant bacilli to control and treat.. This study describes carbapenem resistance in A. baumannii isolates obtained during an outbreak from intensive care units of a peripheral hospital in central part of Iran..Patients and Sixty-three non-repetitive A. baumannii isolates were collected over a six months period. Susceptibility of the isolated bacteria to a panel of 23 different antimicrobial agents was defined by using the standard disk diffusion method. Production of Metallo-β-lactamases (MBL) and AmpC β-lactamase were determined by using the E-test MBL strip and AmpC disk tests, respectively.. The present study indicates that carbapenems and new cephalosporin antibiotics were practically ineffective against the extensive drug resistance (XDR) strains. Colistin was observed to be more effective, although in seven cases resistance to colistin observed. AmpC β-lactamase and MBL could be an important contributory factor for imipenem resistance among the isolates in our hospital. The elevated prevalence of XDR and pan drug resistance (PDR) strains indicates that local antibiotic prescription policies should be revised and infection control should be improved.. The elevated prevalence of XDR and PDR strains indicates that local antibiotic prescription policies should be revised and infection control should be improved..

Myrtus communis L. is an evergreen perennial shrub belonging to the Myrtaceae family that is spontaneously growing throughout the Mediterranean area. Myrtle has demonstrated important antimicrobial and antifungal activities to treat bacterial and fungal diseases.

This study was aimed to develop a new method to evaluate the anti-fungal activity of hydroalcoholic extracts of Myrtle on dermatophytes by bioautography.

The species used for this study were: Microsporum canis, M. gypseum and Trichophyton mentagrophytes. The fungi were kept on Sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA) slants at 4°C and subcultured monthly throughout this study. Various fractions were prepared from hydroalcoholic extracts based on polarity. The antifungal assay of different solvent extracts was performed by agar disc diffusion method. A thin layer chromatography (TLC) method was developed to carry out bioautography TLC, the same solvent system as that of bioautography was used.

Ethyl acetate and total methanolic extracts respectively had the best antifungal effects against three tested genera of dermatophytes. The ethyl acetate extract and methanolic extract that had the most inhibitory effect compared with any other fractions, were separated by solvent system (trifluroacetic acid, ethyl acetate, methanol, water: 0.1: 10: 0.04: 0.04) by TLC method. The best antifungal effects of the three fungi extracts was obtained in Rf: 0 - 0.3.

The active compound may be a flavonoid. Existence of flavonoids in tested fractions could be the important medicinal properties of M. communis leaves. Further work is required to evaluate the exact effect of these biological compounds on animal model or human volunteers.