Background: Candida species are opportunistic fungal pathogens that can affect immune compromised patients and may cause life threatening infections. Biofilm formation is an important virulence factor that enables Candida species to invade the host tissues. This study aimed to assess the ability of Candida albicans to form biofilm in patients with catheter associated candiduria and to determine the presence of some genes involved in biofilm formation at the molecular level. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out from June 2019 to June 2020 on 93 catheterized patients admitted to different wards at Suez Canal University Hospitals (SCUHs), Ismailia. Candida albicans strains were identified phenotypically by their growth on sabouraud dextrose agar, Gram staining, growth on hypertonic sabouraud broth, chlamydospore formation and germ tube formation test. Biofilm formation was detected by tissue culture plate method. Detection of the genes involved in biofilm formation was done by PCR. Results: Twenty eight Candida albicans strains were isolated from 36 Candida species. Nine isolates (32.1%) were strong biofilm producers, 6 isolates (21.4%) were moderate biofilm producers and 13 isolates (46.4%) were weak or non-biofilm producers. ALS1 gene was detected in 13 isolates (46.4%), while HWP1 gene was detected in 16 isolates (57.1 %). Conclusion: This study documented the prevalence of candiduria in catheterized patients and found a statistically significant higher prevalence of the tested biofilm forming genes among biofilm forming isolates as compared to the weak or non-biofilm forming ones; but additional studies should be carried out as the management of catheter associated caniduria is still controversial.

Introduction. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which emerged in China at the end of 2019, rapidly spread worldwide. The angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene contains an insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism that leads to a higher serum ACE level which is associated with several diseases and also with a high mortality rate in SARS. Therefore, this study aimed at assessing the association between ACE gene polymorphism and the risk and severity of COVID-19 disease in patients. Methodology. Forty-five SARS-CoV-2 infected patients and another random control group of 45 healthy individuals were included. The detection of ACE I/D gene polymorphism in both groups was done by PCR. Results. 53% of infected patients with SARS-CoV-2 had an ACE deletion/deletion genotype (D/D), 27% had an ACE deletion/insertion genotype (D/I), and 20% had an ACE insertion/insertion genotype (I/I). On the one hand, the D/D variant was significantly detected in the COVID-19 patients compared to the control subjects, whereas the I/I variant was significantly detected in the control subjects compared to the COVID-19 patients ( p  = 0.004). The D/D variant subgroup showed the lowest lymphocytic count compared to the D/I or I/I subgroups. In addition, the C-reactive protein was significantly higher and the oxygen saturation was significantly lower in patients with the D/D allele compared to the other subgroups. Conclusions. ACE gene polymorphism, particularly the DD genotype, was observed to affect the severity of COVID-19 infection.

Background: Acinetobacter baumannii is recognized as opportunistic pathogen of increasing relevance in healthcare-associated infections. The emergence of carbapenemases genes in MDR-AB forming biofilm complicated treatment of infected patients with this microorganism. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of blaOXA genes genes among biofilm and non-biofilm forming A. baumannii. Methodology: forty seven A. baumannii strains were isolated and identified by conventional microbiological tests and API 20NE assay. The presence of blaOXA genes were studied by polymerase chain reaction. Biofilm formation was detected by microtiter plate method. Results: The highest percentage of resistance was to imipenem (85.1 %). 80.9 % of the isolates were resistant to ceftazidime, cefotaxime and meropenem. Thirty five A. baumannii isolates (74.5 %) were found to be MDR. Thirteen A. baumannii isolates (27.6%) were strong biofilm producers, 10 strains were moderate biofilm producers and 24 strains were weak or non-biofilm producers. blaOXA-23 was detected in 16 isolates (34.04 %), blaOXA-51 was detected in 8 isolates . None of the study isolates harbored blaOXA-24.Conclusion: Coexistence of the blaOXA genes along with biofilm formation, in MDR-AB strains, complicated treatment of infected patients with these bacteria.

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Background: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is considered as one of the top five pathogens of nosocomial diseases worldwide. Infections caused by P. aeruginosa are often severe and life threatening and are difficult to treat because of the limited susceptibility to antimicrobial agents and the high frequency of emergence of antibiotic resistance during therapy. What adds to the problem of P. aeruginosa nosocomial infections is the emergence of multi-drug resistant (MDR) strains that develop resistance by various mechanisms like multi drug resistance efflux pumps, production of β-lactamases, aminoglycoside modifying enzymes and decrease outer membrane permeability. Efflux pumps contribute to multidrug resistance as they expel different types of antibiotics and chemicals. Objectives: Detection of the role of the efflux pump in multidrug resistant P. aeurginosa isolates from Suez Canal university hospital (SCUH) in Ismailia. Methodology: This study included 307 hospitalized patients of both sexes and from all age groups. A forty nine P. aeruginosa strains were isolated from blood, urine, sputum and pus. Antibiotic susceptibility tests were done by using disc diffusion method. For detection of the role of efflux pump in MDR, strains proved to be MDR were further tested by MIC (agar dilution susceptibility method) before and after addition of efflux pump inhibitor carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenyl hydrazone (CCCP). Results: The isolation rate of P. aeruginosa was 15.9% out of a total number of 307cases. The isolation rate was highest from cases in the ICU (26.5%), while it was lowest from internal medicine department (8.2%). 57.1% of the isolates were multidrug resistant; the efflux pump mediated resistance was proved for ciprofloxacin and meropenem. Conclusion: Our study proved the role of efflux pump mechanism in mullti-drug resistance by P.aeruginosa isolates to ciprofloxacin and meropenem. Other studies proved the role of this mechanism in resistance to carbapenem, levofloxacin, ciprofloxacina and meropenem. Understanding the mechanisms by which these pumps act and how to overcome its activity opens the door for restoring the antibiotic activity and constitute a promising target for novel antibacterial agents.