Prevalence of candida species and oral candidiasis during menstrual cycle in a sample of women in Baghdad city

Menstrual cycle define and reflect the women internal endocrine environment. Ovarian hormones, estrogens and progesterone, are not secreted in constant amounts throughout the cycle. Estrogen and progesterone have been shown to inhibit aspects of both innate and acquired immunity at the systemic or local level furthermore they have been shown to influence on maturation and keratinization of oral mucosa. So there may be possible influence of the menstrual cycle on the adherence of Candida to human oral epithelial cells, and may implicate hormonal factors in the aetiology of oral Candidiasis. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of Candida albicans and other different Candida species in the oral cavity during different periods of menstrual cycle. One hundred and seventy six oral swabs were taken from 44 females' patients attending dental clinic during the period from May to September2007 with age range 14-49 years old at different periods of menstrual cycle on days 5, 13, 22 and 28, which represent menstrual phase, ovulatory phase, mid-luteal phase and premenstrual phase respectively. Swabs were taken from the tongue for isolation of Candida species. The swabs were inoculated on Sabouraud's glucose agar incubated at 37° for 72 hours; Candida species were identified by gram stain method, germ tube method and fermentation of sugar set. The prevalence of Candida in the oral cavity at 5[th], 13[th], 22[nd] and 28[th] days of menstrual cycle were 31.8%, 22.7%, 40.9% and 25% respectively. The study shows that the prevalence of Candida in the oral cavity was non-significantly higher at 22[nd] day of menstrual cycle. There was no significant influence of menstrual cycle on the prevalence of Candida in the oral cavity during different periods. The prevalence of Candida albicans was higher during different periods of menstrual cycle in comparison to Candida tropicalis and Candida parapsilosis

Housewife onycholysis

The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical and microbiological aspects of onycholysis in Iraqi housewives. One hundred housewives with onycholysis of the finger nails were evaluated clinically in the Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Baghdad Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq between October 2002 to March 2003. Swabs were taken from those patients for microbiological evaluation in the Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq. All cases with skin disorder related systemic diseases like anemia, hypothyroidism and drug intake like minocycline, oral contraceptives were excluded from the study. One hundred housewives with onycholysis were enrolled in the study. Their ages ranged between 17-70 years with a mean of 41.96 +/- 12.57 years. Married females were 89 [89%], while unmarried females were 11 [11%]. The site of involvement was mainly the thumb [76%] followed by the ring finger [12%], the index [7%], little [6%] and middle [5%] fingers. The pattern of onycholysis was distal in 47 [47%], lateral in 30 [30%] and both distal and lateral in 23 [23%] of the patients. Onycholysis is a major problem among Iraqi housewives, most probably caused by repetitive mechanical, chemical and physical trauma; therefore, special preventive measures should be undertaken to minimize the incidence of the disease. Housewives should be encouraged to use preventive measures like using gloves and washing machines

Isolation of penicillium chrysogenum mutants by mutation and selection technique

To isolate high penicllin yielding mutants, the efficacy of [NTG] on Penicillium chrysogenum under various conditions was studied. Conidia were treated with various concentrations of N-MethyI-N-Nitro-N-Nitrosoguanidine [NTG] for 30 minutes. Complete inactivation of spores was observed at 1x10-3M. A maximum of 4% auxotrophs were obtained at 5x10-5M. Using 5x10-4M [NTG] as a given concentration, conidia were treated over different time intervals, the lethality was increased to 99% in 40 minutes. The frequency of auxotrophs increased linearly with time intervals. The optimum condition for the isolation of high penicillin yielding mutants is at a concentration of 5x10-4M [NTG] with a 16 to 24 minutes