Bacteriologic and Immunologic Study for Some Patients with Psychological Stress

Mostafa Abdel Razzaq Darb A.; Najdat B. Mahdi; Alaa J. Hassan

Mostafa Abdel Razzaq Darb A. Department of Biology, College of Education for Pure Sciences, Kirkuk University, Iraq
Najdat B. Mahdi Department of Biology, College of Education for Pure Sciences, Kirkuk University, Iraq.
Alaa J. Hassan Department of Biology, College of Sciences, Babylon University, Iraq

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, IL-6, TNF- α

Abstract

In recent decades, many stresses have increased on members of society, which has led to the emergence of many psychological diseases related to psychological stress. Therefore, this study aims to find the relationship between individuals who suffer from psychological stress and increased number of intestinal bacteria, as well as to study some immunological parameters related with stress. The study enrolled 180 participants including 97 (53.9%) patients suffering from schizophrenia disease and 53 (29.4%) patients with Alzheimer’s disease, as well as 30 (16.7%) persons as control group. Blood samples and clinical feces were collected from patients in Al-Rashad and Ibn Al-Rushd Hospitals in Baghdad province during the period August 2022 to March 2023, and the information of each sample was taken in its own questionnaire. The bacteria were diagnosed by phenotypic, microscopic, and biochemical tests. the results revealed that Klebsiella spp. was the most bacterial species in schizophrenia patients which reached to 30 (48.4%), while the number of Escherichia coli isolates was 12 (19.3%). In Alzheimer's patients, Klebsiella spp. was the most common bacterial species in schizophrenia patients which reached to 11 (35.5%), while the number of Escherichia coli isolates was 7 (22.6%). The study include estimation the levels of immunological parameters IL-6 and TNF-α using ELISA. The results revealed elevation the level of IL-6 (P<0.05) in sera of patients in comparison with healthy control group , which reached to )2.73±0.68( and (3.06±0.83 pg/ml) for patients with schizophrenia and Alzheimer's diseases respectively , while it was 0.94±0.16 Pg/ml in healthy control group. In addition, the level of tumor necrosis factor- alpha (TNF-α) showed a significant increase (P<0.05) in patients with schizophrenia (5.18±1.25 pg ml) and Alzheimer's disease (4.91±0.77 p /ml) compared to the healthy control group (2.16±0.37 pg/ml). In conclusions, the psychological diseases (schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s) associated with stress increased the number of intestinal bacteria in feces samples of patients in comparison with healthy control group, also increased the levels of the cytokines IL-6 and TNF- α in patients compared with healthy control group.

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