Background: Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play a significant role in the activation of adaptive immunity and may have an essential role in the development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Objectives: To assess the gene expression of TLR4 in individuals with RA compared to healthy individuals. Methods: From July to December 2022. A total of 100 individuals were encompassed in the study, consisting of 50 individuals diagnosed with RA, of whom 42 were females and 8 were males, with an average age of 45.22 years. Additionally, there were 50 healthy control participants, 40 of whom were females and 10 were males, with an average age of 45.64 years. To assess the TLR4 transcript levels, blood samples were collected from each participant, and RN

The geochemical study of the Oligocene-Miocene succession Anah, Euphrates, and Fatha formations, western Iraq, was carried out to discriminate their depositional environments. Different major and trace patterns were observed between these formations. The major elements (Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, K, and Na) and trace elements (Li, V, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Rb, Sr, Zr, Cs, Ba, Hf, W, Pb, Th, and U) are a function of the setting of the depositional environments. The reefal facies have lower concentrations of MgO, Li, Cr, Co, Ni, Ga, Rb, Zr, and Ba than marine and lagoonal facies but have higher concentrations of CaO, V, and Sr than it. Whereas dolomitic limestone facies are enriched V, and U while depletion in Li, Cr, Ni, Ga, Rb, Sr, Zr, Ba, an

The present study tackles the complex issue of the urgent need for Environmental Auditing (EA) in Iraq in the absence of laws that support environmental management and in the light of the high rates of cancerous diseases in Iraq, which coincided significantly with the increase in oil production, according to the numbers indicated in the Iraqi Ministry of Health. The study aimed to investigate the mediating role of Management Systems (MS) related to the role of EA supporting sustainability reports concerning the reduction of the negative effects of gas emissions from oil companies. We adopted the descriptive approach which relies on studying relationships through a questionnaire that was distributed to a group of workers at Doura Refinery in

Background: Lumbar disc degeneration (LDD) is a common musculoskeletal disorder that frequently causes low back pain (LBP). In addition to the discomfort of lower back pain, it can accompany pain in one or both legs. The lumbar spine and sacrum, consisting of five vertebrae and one bone, determine the spine's balance. Microelements are essential in bone metabolism and are associated with the prevention of osteoporosis and the alleviation of musculoskeletal pain. Objectives: To examine the correlation between lumbar spinal surgery and the concentrations of microelements, namely zinc and copper. Methods: A case-control study was conducted in Ghazi Al-Hariri Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, during the period from October 2023 to January 2024

Background: It's believed that HBD-3 is involved in the tissue remodeling process of articular cartilage. Also, HBD-3 has anti-inflammatory properties. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to assay human beta-defensine-3 (HBD-3) in serum from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and investigate its correlation with proinflammatory cytokines. Methods: In this case-control study, fifty-eight RA patients were aged 20–65 years, and 29 age-matched healthy subjects (HS) had no inflammatory rheumatic diseases. The disease activity score-28 joint erythrocyte sedimentation rate (DAS28-ESR) was used to measure RA activity. CRP, ACPA, HBD-3, TNF-α, and IL-1β were assessed using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique (ELISA). Res

This study is an attempt to find whether arginine metabolism dysregulation by arginase activity is related to hyperglycemia, followed by changes in nitric oxide (NO) generation in type 2 diabetic patients. This study includes 42 control subjects (Group I), and 92 Iraqi patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The patient group was subdivided into two groups: Group II (54) with T2DM only and Group III (38) with T2DM and dyslipidemia (who were treating with atorvastatin along with diabetes treatment). The samples were obtained to measure arginase activity and NO levels. Serum arginase activity increased significantly in patients(groupII and groupIII) compared to control group. While serum NO level was significantly lower in diabetic pa

Gastritis can be defined as histological inflammation of the gastric mucosa. It can be classified according to the time course of the disease as acute or chronic, histological findings, anatomic location, and pathological mechanisms. The objective of this study was to evaluation of serum levels of the proinflammatory cytokines IL-8, IL-17 and IL-22 in Helicobacter pylori infection and their association with the degree of gastritis histopathology in a sample of Iraqi patients. The case-control prospective study consists of 60 patients who attended the Gastrointestinal Tract Center at Al-Kindy Teaching Hospital during the period from December 2019 to April 2020. In addition, the control group included 60 apparently healthy individuals. Bio

It included the introduction to the research and its importance, as the knee joint is one of the important joints in the human body that are susceptible to injury, and among these injuries is the roughness of the knee that occurs as a result of weakness and imbalance in the work of the quadriceps muscle, so its treatment is through rehabilitation exercises to treat weakness and gain flexibility and strength.Hence the importance of the research by developing rehabilitation exercises with different resistances in the water medium and restoring flexibility and muscular strength for patients with knee roughness for ages from 30-40 years, and the experimental method was used to solve the research problem, and the research sample included (6) of