Molecular detection of Escherichia coli in ulcerative colitis and the potential therapeutic activity of Artemisia annua extract in Sulaimaniyah province

Abstract

Background: Escherichia  coli  is  part  of  a  huge  bacterial  family, Enterobacteriaceae, which are gram-negative bacilli, rod-shaped bacteria that are usually found in the gastrointestinal tract of humans. E. coli is a motile, non-spore-forming, facultative anaerobic bacterium that ferments lactose quickly  and produces  an  indole  ring,  oxidase-negative,  catalase-positive colonies  that  appeared  pink  in  color  on  MacConkey  agar  at  optimum temperature 37°C. Its main virulence factors are toxins such as Shiga toxin-1 and Shiga toxin-2. E. coli frequently colonizes the colonic mucosa; it can cause  chronic  active  colitis.  Artemisia  species  are  widely  distributed throughout  the  world  and  are  used  worldwide  for  food,  seasoning,  and traditional medicinal treatment. A. annua extract has demonstrated diverse biological activities and contained antimicrobial compounds with selective activity against E. coli and other gram-negative bacteria.
Aimof the study: To detection pathogen E.coli in ulcerative colitis and the therapeutic potential activity of A. annua extract against isolated bacteria. Patients and methods: This study was designed to include 74 children below 4  years  old  and  100  adult  with  a  suspected  of  ulcerative  colitis,  who underwent biopsy sampling in the Teaching Hospital for Gastroenterology and Hepatology in Sulaimaniyah between Marc 2024 to December 2024. blood agar and MacConkey agar was employed for the cultivation of the bacteria  at  37C  for  24  hours.  Prepared  A.annua  extract,  then  well diffusion method was used for detect the therapeutic potential activity of different concentration of A.annua against isolated bacteria.
Results: A significant difference (P≤0.01) has been found in value of the activity of different concentration of A. annua extract on the isolated bacteria compared with negative control. We have been recorded increased the mean level of both concentration of A.annua (20 and 40)mg/ml, with pathogenic bacteria compared with control.
Conclusion: The  effective  methods  for  detection  pathogen  E.coli  in ulcerative colitis is Molecular method to detect the E.coli nucleic acid and the Stx1 gene that is responsible for colitis; A. annua extract showed significantly higher effectiveness against E.coli.