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Summary Background The purpose of this study was to determine whether the mucosal expression of interleukin (IL)‐23p19 has a role in the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis, and to determine its relation to disease severity. Methods This study was performed on 50 patients with ulcerative colitis and 10 normal individuals as the controls. They were divided into Group I (27 patients with mild to moderate disease), Group II (23 patients with severe disease), and Group III (10 normal individuals). All patients and the controls were subjected to histopathological study, IL‐23p19 immunohistochemical staining, IL‐23R expression by flow cytometry, and serum IL‐23 by enzyme‐linked immunoassay. Results There was a significant increase in IL‐23p19 gene expression and IL‐23R level in patients with ulcerative colitis, compared to the controls. A significant positive correlation was detected between increased expression of the IL‐23p19 gene, IL‐23R, high serum IL‐23, and the severity of the disease. Conclusion Increased expression of the IL‐23p19 gene has a role in the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis. Targeted therapy directed against IL‐23p19 may be effective in its treatment. Increased expression of the IL‐23p19 gene and IL‐23R with high serum IL‐23 is correlated positively with disease severity.

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The aim of this work was to detect the prevalence of metallo-β-lactamases (MBL) producers among carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii strains isolated from diabetic foot ulcers. Out of 290 samples of diabetic foot ulcers, 99 strains of A. baumannii (33%) were isolated and identified by conventional culture methods. Antibiotic sensitivity pattern of the isolated A. baumanni strains was done by disc diffusion method. For A. baumanni strains that was resistant to imipenem and meropenem, MBL production was screened by potentiated disc test and confirmed by multiplex polymerase chain reaction for bla IMP and bla VIM genes. Out of 99 strains of A. baumannii, 26 (26%) were found resistant to imipenem and/or meropenem. Of these 26 carpabenem resistant A. baumannii strains 9 (34.61%) were positive for MBL by potentiated disc test, and 6 strains (23.07%) were positive for bla VIM or bla IMP by multiplex PCR; where bla VIM gene was detected in 4 strains (15.38%) and bla IMP was detected in 2 strains (7.69%). The antimicrobial susceptibility profile for the isolated A. baumanni strains showed that the highest sensitivity was to meropenem (74.4%), imepenem (76.55%), amikacin (65%) and the lowest sensitivity was to ceftazidime (11%) and ciprofloxacin (12%). Rapid dissemination of carbapenemresistant isolates in diabetic foot ulcers is worrisome and calls for judicious use of antibiotics. bla VIM and bla IMP genes have a role in carbapenem-resistant in the community. More studies are needed to differentiate MBL from non-metalloenzymes producers.