Ali J. R. Al-Sa’aDy

Proteases have various applications in the food, pharmaceutical, medicine, pathogenicity of some pathogenic bacteria, and detergent sectors as well as meeting the needs of approximately 60% of the global enzyme industry, whereas they catalyze the breakdown of protein molecules into peptides and amino acids. Production and purification of protease enzyme by the isolate Escherichia coli AJ55 was scrutinized in the present study. Cultivation optimum conditions, were various complex medium, carbon source, nitrogen source, temperature, pH of the medium, and time of incubation were optimized to enhance the total protease production in shake flask culture of E.coli AJ55. The nutrient broth supplemented with 2% glucose and 2% yeast extract, with a pH of 7.0 and incubated at 37 °C for 24 hours, better conditioned for producing the maximum production of protease. Escherichia coli AJ55 proteolytic enzyme was separated and purified using ion-exchange chromatography on a DEAE-Cellulose column and Sephadex G-150 gel after being precipitated with 0-70% saturated ammonium sulfate. Protease that had been partially purified had a yield of 34%, a purification fold of 13.4, an activity of 12.16 U/ml, a protein concentration of 0.005 mg/ml, and a specific activity of 2432 U/mg. By using gel filtration chromatography on a Sephadex G-150 gel, partially purified protease was examined for its ability to cleave the mucin protein. The findings of mucin biodegradation showed that the five fractions of the small peptides were produced after treatment of mucin with partially purified protease.

Background: A case-control study was performed to examine age, gender, and ABO blood groups in 1014 Iraqi hospitalized cases with Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and 901 blood donors (control group). The infection was molecularly diagnosed by detecting coronavirus RNA in nasal swabs of patients.Results: Mean age was significantly elevated in cases compared to controls (48.2 ± 13.8vs. 29.9 ± 9.0 year; probability [p] < 0.001). Receiver operating characteristic analysis demonstrated the predictive significance of age in COVID-19 evolution (Area under curve = 0.858; 95% CI: 0.841 – 0.875;p< 0.001). Males outnumbered females in cases (60.4vs. 39.6%) and controls (56vs. 44%). Stratification by age group (< 30, 30 – 39, 40 – 49 and ≥ 50 years) revealed that 48.3% of cases clustered in the age group ≥ 50 years. ABO blood group analysis showed that group A was the most common among cases, while group O was the most common among controls (35.5 and 36.7%, respectively). Blood groups A (35.5vs. 32.7; correctedp[pc] = 0.021), A+AB (46.3vs. 41.7%;pc= 0.021) and A+B+AB (68.0vs. 63.3%;pc= 0.007) showed significantly elevated frequencies in cases compared to controls. Logistic regression analysis estimated odds ratios (ORs) of 1.53 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.16 - 2.02), 1.48 (95% CI: 1.14 - 1.93) and 1.50 (95% CI: 1.17 - 1.82) for blood groups A, A+AB and A+B+AB, respectively. Blood group frequencies showed no significant differences between age groups of cases or controls. Regarding gender, male cases were marked with increased frequency of group A (39.9vs. 28.9%) and decreased frequency of group O (25.9vs. 41.0%) compared to female cases. Independent re-analysis of ABO blood groups in male and female cases demonstrated that group A was increased in male cases compared to male controls (39.9vs. 33.1%; OR = 1.65; 95% CI: 1.24 - 2.21;pc= 0.006). On the contrary, no significant differences were found between females of cases and controls.Conclusions: The study results indicated that blood group A may be associated with an increased risk of developing COVID-19, particularly in males.

Lovastatin is one of the most important compounds that is produced from some filamentous fungi, being employed in the reduction of hypocholesterolemia. The results of screening, after the collection of seventy-three local fungal isolates from different areas, demonstrated that the local isolate Aspergillus terreus A50 was the best isolate for lovastatin production, with a concentration of 12.66 µg/ml, through the submerged fermentation. Lovastatin produced from A. terreus A50 showed antimicrobial activities against a Candida albicans isolate. Solid state fermentation (SSF) was the best system to produce the highest yield of lovastatin by A. terreus A50 as compared to the submerged fermentation (SmF) system, with and without agitation. The optimum conditions for lovastatin production by SSF were also determined. The parameters included carbon sources (wastes), carbon sources mixture, incubation temperature, and moisturizing solution, which are commonly used in classical procedures. The results showed that a higher lovastatin production of 102.321 µg/gm substrate was obtained in the culture containing wheat bran and oat bran (1:1 w:w), sodium acetate, moisture ratio of 1.2 v:w, pH 7, incubation temperature of 30 °C and incubation period of 6 days. Some of these parameters, including pH, incubation period, and moisture ratio were determined by utilizing the Response Surface Method (RSM) as a statistical approach.

Background: Susceptibility to the pandemic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has recently been associated with ABO blood groups in patients of different ethnicities. This study sought to understand the genetic association of this polymorphic system with risk of disease in Iraqi patients. Two outcomes of COVID-19, recovery and death, were also explored. ABO blood groups were determined in 300 hospitalized COVID-19 Iraqi patients (159 under therapy, 104 recovered, and 37 deceased) and 595 healthy blood donors. The detection kit for 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) RNA (PCR-Fluorescence Probing) was used in the diagnosis of disease. Results: Mean age was significantly increased in patients compared to controls (49.8 ± 11.7 vs. 28.9 ± 6.6 years; p < 0.001). A similar observation was made in recovered (42.1 ± 10.4 vs. 28.9 ± 6.6 years; p < 0.001) and deceased (53.6 ± 9.7 vs. 28.9 ± 6.6 years; p < 0.001) cases. The mean age was also significantly increased in deceased cases compared to recovered cases (53.6 ± 9.7 vs. 42.1 ± 10.4 years; p < 0.001). There were gender-dependent differences in COVID-19 prevalence. The percentage of COVID-19 was higher in males than in females (all cases: 59.7 vs. 40.3%; recovered cases: 55.8 vs. 44.2%). Such male-gender preponderance was more pronounced in deceased cases (67.6 vs. 32.4%). Logistic regression analysis revealed that groups AB and B + AB were significantly associated with increased risk to develop COVID-19 (OR = 3.10; 95% CI 1.59–6.05; pc = 0.007 and OR = 2.16; 95% CI 1.28–3.63; pc = 0.028, respectively). No ABO-associated risk was observed in recovered cases. On the contrary, groups A (OR = 14.60; 95% CI 2.85–74.88; pc = 0.007), AB (OR = 12.92; 95% CI 2.11–79.29; pc = 0.042), A + AB (OR = 14.67; 95% CI 2.98–72.33; pc = 0.007), and A + B + AB (OR = 9.67; 95% CI 2.02–46.24; pc = 0.035) were associated with increased risk of death in deceased cases. Conclusions: The findings of this study suggest that group AB may be a susceptibility biomarker for COVID-19, while group A may be associated with increased risk of death.