The aim of this study was to discriminate 30 Vibrio strains isolated from two wastewater treatment plants from Agadir, Morocco by two molecular typing methods, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). Out of the 30 strains of Vibrio examined in this study, 5 isolates could not be typed by PFGE and consistently appeared as a smear on the gel. In general, high genetic biodiversity among the Vibrio strains was found regardless to the isolation source. The results of MALDI TOF analysis show a high congruence of strain grouping demonstrating the accuracy and reliability of MALDI-TOF MS.

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease that remains an important public health problem at the global level. It is one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality, due to the emergence of antibiotic resistant Mycobacterium strains and HIV co-infection. Over the past decade, important progress has been made for better control of the disease. While microscopy and culture continue to be indispensible for laboratory diagnosis of tuberculosis, the range of several molecular diagnostic tests, including the nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) and whole-genome sequencing (WGS), have expanded tremendously. They are becoming more accessible not only for detection and identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in clinical specimens, but now extend to diagnosing multi-drug resistant strains. Molecular diagnostic tests provide timely results useful for high-quality patient care, low contamination risk, and ease of performance and speed. This review focuses on the current diagnostic tests in use, including emerging technologies used for detection of tuberculosis in clinical specimens. The sensitivity and specificity of these tests have also been taken into consideration.

A total of 21 isolates of Vibrio cholerae non-O1 strains were isolated from three wastewater treatment plants in Agadir, Morocco. The isolates were analyzed by biochemical analysis, antibiogram, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and the MALDI-TOF patterns of their protein masses were compared. Over 67% of isolates were susceptible to antimicrobial agents tested and 14% proved resistant to both trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and nalidixic acid. Typing by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis with NotI digestion revealed that the V. cholerae non-O1 strains from Agadir (Morocco) have a lower level of genetic homogeneity, the restriction patterns of whole-chromosomal DNA grouped the V. cholerae O1 and V. alginolyticus strains into a separate cluster from V. metschnikovii and V. cholerae non-O1 isolates. Furthermore, to gain additional analytical accuracy and reliability in the analysis we used dendrogram based on MALDI-TOF spectral patterns generated by the BioTyper 1.1 TM software. All m/z signatures of all strains tested indicate that the mass spectral data contained sufficient information to distinguish between strains of V. cholerae.

Background. In recent years, the treatment of tuberculosis has been threatened by the increasing number of patients with drug resistance, especially rifampicin resistance, which is the most effective first-line antibiotic against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Methods. We performed a systematic review of the literature by searching the PubMed database for studies of rifampicin-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) isolates from Moroccan patients, published between 2010 and 2020. The aim of this review was to quantify the frequency of the most common mutations associated with rifampicin resistance, to describe the frequency at which these mutations co-occur. Identified studies were critically appraised according to the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 (QUADAS-2) tool. Results. 6 studies met our inclusion criteria. Results show that 99.36% of MTB isolates had a single-point mutation, and the most commonly mutated codon of rpoB gene is 531 with 70.33% of phenotypically resistant strains. However, 10.38% of MTB strains phenotypically resistant to RIF did not exhibit any mutation in the rpoB gene. Conclusion. Identification of a resistance-associated mutation to rifampicin can be a good marker of drug-resistant TB, but lack of a mutation in the target sequence must be interpreted with caution.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of the chromID Vibrio medium for the detection of Vibrio cholerae and V. parahaemolyticus in stool and swab specimens in comparison with thiosulfate citrate bile salts sucrose (TCBS) medium. A total of 96 samples including 30 fresh stool, 32 stool, and 34 swab specimens originating from routine laboratories were tested. All samples were seeded on both media, the TCBS medium and the chromID Vibrio, directly and after an enrichment step on alkaline peptone water. Of the 96 samples studied, 34 were positive for V. cholerae and 30 were positive for V. parahaemolyticus. The sensitivity for the isolation of V. cholerae in fresh stool specimens was identical for both media, 78.5% and 100% before and after enrichment, respectively. However, positive test with chromID Vibrio concluded immediately to the presence of V. cholerae. In the case of artificial contaminations, the sensitivity of chromID Vibrio was more important than TCBS after enrichment for V. cholerae and for V. parahaemolyticus before and after enrichment. In fresh stool specimens, the specificity of chromID Vibrio for screening V. cholerae was significantly higher than TCBS (100% and 100% compared to 50% and 50% before and after enrichment, respectively) and was important for V. parahaemolyticus (100% chromID Vibrio; 93.33% TCBS).

The objective of this work is the preparation of nanocapsules which are intended for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We use Argan oil as vehicle of hydrophobic drugs such as indomethacin. Nanoprecipitation technique was used like a method for preparation of nanocapsules, where polycaprolactone, acetone, and Argan oil are used as polymer, solvent, and carrier, respectively. Primarily, investigation of Argan oil amount addition was performed; then systematic study to optimize the formulation was done. Nanocapsules containing indomethacin (loaded nanocapsules) and others without indomethacin (blank nanocapsules) were characterized by studying particles size, zeta potential, and encapsulation efficiency. It is shown that particle size ranged between 290 nm and 350 nm. The zeta potential values were negative (from −40 up to −50 mV) while encapsulation efficiency ranged between 65 and 75%.

Introduction despite major strides in the prevention, diagnosis and management of tuberculosis, the disease continues to be one of the most pressing global health problems, particularly in developing countries. The purpose of the present study was to describe the epidemiological profile among tuberculosis patients in Laayoune, Morocco. Methods a retrospective study was conducted among tuberculosis patients (having extrapulmonary tuberculosis and pulmonary tuberculosis), registered in the diagnosis of tuberculosis and respiratory diseases reference center of Laayoune, between January 2017 and May 2018. Demographic characteristics, clinical presentation of TB and apparent risk factors of the disease were obtained from the medical case records of all patients. Results during the study period, a total of 211 patients (125 males and 86 females) with tuberculosis were enrolled. The majority of cases (93.40%) were newly diagnosed and the segment with the pulmonary tuberculosis was 63.50%. The highest disease burden was found in the ≥15 year age group (92.40%; p=0.022). Men were more frequently affected by pulmonary tuberculosis (70.90%), while extrapulmonary tuberculosis was more commonly detected in women (61%) (p<0.0001). The most common sites of extrapulmonary disease were lymphatic (32.47%), pleural (16.88%) and spinal tuberculosis (15.58%). HIV infection and smoking seem to be the most important risk factors that affect host defense against TB infection. Conclusion the results obtained in tuberculosis patients in Laayoune, Morocco, showed that active tuberculosis was associated with risk factors such as sex, age and smoking.

Skin is an extensively employed route for drug delivery to provide the local and systemic effects. Stratum corneum (SC) is the upper layer of the skin, which makes a natural physical obstacle against penetration of the drugs. Polymer based nanoparticles are one of the approach to overcome this barrier. Biodegradable polymers are ideal carriers to a broad range of drugs for therapeutic applications. The biodegradable polymer based nanoparticles reduce the strength, dosing period and side effects of pharmaceutical dosage forms. Furthermore, these polymers based nanoparticles show interesting applications in novel drug delivery systems due to their versatility and harmless degradation. The smart polymers might release the captured molecule in response to a particular physiological trigger (pH, temperature etc.) in a proper time and site of action. The choice of polymer based nanoparticles depends on the skin condition to be treated, the type of drug to be loaded and the desired drug release profile.