Abstract Introduction: MMP3 plays a crucial role in the process of bone erosion in the pathomechanism of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It acts by removing the outer osteoid layer, which allows the osteoclasts to tightly connect and carry out the subsequent damage to the underlying bone. MMP3 can trigger the production of other MMPs like MMP-1, MMP-7, and MMP-9, it plays a pivotal role in the remodeling of connective tissues. Aim of the study: to assess the influence of MMP-3 serum levels and single-nucleotide polymorphisms of rs679620 in the rheumatoid arthritis patients' group in comparison to the control group. Subjects: eighty eight samples, 45 rheumatoid arthritis patients after being referred by their treating physician for regular RA test. The remaining 43 samples all represent apparently healthy people. The present study investigated the serum concentration of MMP-3 and rs679620 SNPs in the group of patients with RA, in comparison to the control group. Results: The results indicated a significant elevation in MMP-3 levels in RA patients in comparison to healthy individuals (12.75 ± 0.38 vs. 9.69 ± 0.37) and the findings of rs679620 SNPs appeared that the patient group has a non-significant increase in both allele frequency A and genotype frequency AA when compared to the control group (66.2 vs. 52.2 %; p = 0.172; OR = 1.79 and 35.3 vs. 17.4 %; p = 0.229; OR = 2.59) , but a non-significant decrease in both allele frequency C and genotype frequency CC when compared to the control group (2.94 vs. 4.4 %; p = 1.0; OR = 0.67 and 2.9 vs. 4.3 %; p = 1.0; OR = 0.67), as well as a non-significant decrease in allele frequency G and both genotypes frequency GG and AG when compared to the control group (30.9 vs. 43.5 %; p = 0.233; OR = 0.58, 0.0 vs. 8.7 %; p = 0.159; OR = 0.12 and 61.8 vs. 69.6 %; p = 0.585; OR = 0.71 ). Patients carrying the AA and AG genotype, had significantly higher serum levels of MMP-3 compared to control (P= 0.005 and 0.004) respectively. Conclusion: Rs679620 may influence joint destruction via increase MMP-3 production.
Background: Oil refinery workers are continuously exposed to numerous hazardous materials. Petroleum contains the heavy metals as a natural constituent or as additives. These metals induce the production of ROS which associated with an oxidative damage to DNA, proteins, and lipids. This study was conducted to assess the salivary levels of heavy metals, salivary oxidative status, oral immunological activity (salivary sIgA) and assessment of the oral findings among the workers of Al-Daura oil refinery in Baghdad city. Subjects, Materials and Methods: This study was done in Al-Daura oil refinery; samples consist of 60 workers involved in refinery processes (study group) and 20 non-workers (control group). Oral examination and saliva collection
... Show MoreThere are significant differences between the pre and post-tests in favor of the post-test in the tests) stroke volume (S.V), cardiac thrust (C.O.P), left ventricular volume, maximum oxygen consumption Vo2max), which indicates the effect of the proposed training approach.There are significant differences between the pre and post-tests in favor of the post-test in the achievement level test with air rifle shooting for young female shooters, which indicates the effect of the proposed training curriculum.There are no significant differences between the pre and post-tests in the tests (heart rate (HR) before exercise, heart rate (HR) after exercise, systolic blood pressure rate before exercise, systolic blood pressure rate after exercis
... Show MoreThe research aims to identify the level of psychological burnout among the professors of Sana’a University in light of the armed conflicts in Yemen. The research sample consisted of (104) faculty members. A descriptive-analytical approach was adopted. The results of the research showed that university professors suffer from psychological burnout at a very high level in the overall score of the scale. There were no statistically significant differences in terms of gender, academic degree, teaching experience, marital status, number of family members, or salary. In light of the results, the researcher presented a number of relevant recommendations and suggestions.
The current research aims to identify the level of effective leadership practices dimensions (clear vision and specific goals, good planning and effective influence, and monitoring well as evaluation) among the senior leaders in the Office of the Iraqi Interior Ministry., The researchers adopted the descriptive analytical approach to collect data through the questionnaire as a main tool, developed by relying on international standards after making adjustments to its items consisting of (25) items that included the research variable, the questionnaire was distributed to all the research community (comprehensive inventory) by 120 forms from emplo
... Show MoreBackground: Saliva is a specific bio-fluid with important biomarkers. Analyzing any alternation in these markers could give valuable information, in relation to oral health status parameters. The aim of this study was to investigate the level of α -amylase in unstimulated whole saliva of healthy, primary school children in relation to some oral health parameters. Materials and Methods: A questionnaires consisted of demography and medical histories of participants were filled by children families. Saliva samples were collected for 5- minutes between 9:00 -11:00 AM from 114 healthy students aged 6-13 years, divided into four age groups. Flow- rate, Plaque and Gingival Index were assessed and dentition status was investigated by DMFT/dmft
... Show MoreThis study was designed to evaluate the effect of aqueous extract of Arabidopsis thaliana seeds on reducing glucose level for white albino mice. Twenty adults mice were used, divided randomly into four groups (five mice per each group). The first group (normal mice) was administrated with 0.1 ml of distilled water as a control, the second group (normal mice) was administrated with 0.1 ml of the plant extract, whereas the third and fourth groups (diabetic mice) were administrated with single dose of alloxan (150 mg/kg of the body weight) to induce diabetes, and the fourth group was administrated with 0.1 ml of the plant extract for 10 days, then blood glucose level was measured for all of the experimental animals (diabetic and no
... Show MoreCircular thin walled structures have wide range of applications. This type of structure is generally exposed to different types of loads, but one of the most important types is a buckling. In this work, the phenomena of buckling was studied by using finite element analysis. The circular thin walled structure in this study is constructed from; cylindrical thin shell strengthen by longitudinal stringers, subjected to pure bending in one plane. In addition, Taguchi method was used to identify the optimum combination set of parameters for enhancement of the critical buckling load value, as well as to investigate the most effective parameter. The parameters that have been analyzed were; cylinder shell thickness, shape of stiffeners section an
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