Objectives: With the advent of ongoing novel modalities toward the treatment of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)/NEU - positive malignancies, the serious side effects of chemoradiotherapy have been minimized. Hence, this study was conducted to identify the patterns of immunohistochemical expression of the promising therapeutic target (HER2/NEU) among Iraqi patients with medulloblastoma in an attempt to provide basic histological information’s that would help in future clinical researches.Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, 42 formalin - fixed paraffin - embedded tissue blocks represent cases of surgically removed medulloblastomas were retrieved from the archived materials in a specialized surgical hospital at Bagdad. The histological diagnosis had been revised, and all cases were stained by the immunohistochemical technique with HER2/NEU antibody and assessed independently by three pathologists.Results: Out of 42 cases, only two which represent 4.76% showed positive results manifested by a strong membranous staining when immunohistochemically evaluated using the same scoring system established for HER2/NEU in breast cancer. 14 cases (33.3%) showed incomplete membranous and five cases (11.9%) showed only cytoplasmic reaction patterns.Conclusion: The rate of expression of HER2/NEU in medulloblastoma among Iraqi patients is very low and found only in aggressive anaplastic histological type when immunohistochemically evaluated using the same scoring system established for HER2/NEU in breast cancer. However, a good number of negative cases showed cytoplasmic and incomplete membranous staining patterns highlighting the importance of establishing medulloblastoma - specific HER2/NEU scoring criteria and testing methods to discover the unique feature of expression of this therapeutic target in medulloblastoma.
Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neurodegenerative autoimmune disease mediated by autoreactive T cells against myelin-basic proteins. Cytokines are suggested to play a role in the etiopathogenesis of the disease. Among these cytokines is interleukin-2 (IL-2). Aim of the study: To investigate the association between IL2+166 G/T single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP: rs2069763) and MS in Iraqi patients. Serum level of IL-2 was also detected. Anti-rubella IgG antibody was further determined in the sera of patients. Patients and methods: Eighty MS patients (28 males and 52 females; age mean ± SD: 39.2 ± 16.1 years) and 80 healthy control matched patients for age (32.15 ± 16.13 years) and gender (28 males and 52 females) were en
... Show MoreThis study is carried out on patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus to assess the lipid profile, malondialdehyde and glutathione. Our study is concerned with 51 (Iraqi Arab females) patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus compared with 31 control subjects unified in age, sex and ethnic background. Lipid profile is measured by using commercially available kits, while the serum MDA and glutathione levels are measured by means of sandwich ELISA test using commercially available kits. Serum MDA is significantly higher (P<0.001) while glutathione is significantly lower (P<0.001) in type 2 diabetic patients when compared to the control. The normal levels of MDA (3.82 ± 0.77n mol/ml) and GSH (2.23 ± 0.54 µg/ml) recorded for the non-diabetic female
... Show MoreSocial determinants of health (SDH) profoundly influence diabetes outcomes; nevertheless, their impact on the Iraqi diabetic population remains under researched. The objectives of this study were To investigate the relationship between particular social determinants of health (SDH) variables namely food and housing insecurity, social support, income, and education and clinical outcomes, including HbA1c levels, medication adherence, and patient satisfaction among Iraqi diabetic patients. A cross-sectional study involving 212 diabetic patients in Iraq was conducted. Participants attending a healthcare facility in Iraq filled out validated questionnaires regarding social determinants of health, medication adherence, and satisfaction. HbA1c rea
... Show MoreBackground: Understanding the morphological characteristics between the floor of the maxillary sinus and the tips of the maxillary posterior roots is crucial in orthodontics involving diagnosis and treatment planning. The aim of this study was to evaluate the distances from the maxillary posterior root apices to the inferior wall of the maxillary sinus, thickness and density of maxillary sinus floor using cone-beam computed tomography images and the relationships between roots and maxillary sinus according to gonial angle and skeletal pattern. Materials and methods: Three-dimensional images of each root were checked, and the distances were measured along the true vertical axis from the apex of the root to the sinus floor, and the thickne
... Show MoreThe buildup factor was measured after irradiating Iraq carbon black powder using each of and sources respectively, using mixing ratios 40% & 50% for thickness range . The results showed that the buildup factor depends on energy and has limited dependence on the mixing ratio. The QIFT program succeeded accenting for the experimental results even for expected values more than 4 m.f.p outside the thickness range.
Background: Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed malignancy and the second leading cause of mortality among women in Iraq forming 23% of cancer related deaths. The low survival from the disease is a direct consequence to the advanced stages at diagnoses. Aim: To document the composite stage of breast cancer among Iraqi patients at the time of diagnosis; correlating the observed findings with other clinical and pathological parameters at presentation. Patients and Methods: A retrospective study enrolling the clinical and pathological characteristics of 603 Iraqi female patients diagnosed with breast cancer. The composite stage of breast cancer was determined according to UICC TNM Classification System of Breast Cancer and the Ameri
... Show MoreBlood samples of One hundred and twenty patients from different hospitals in Baghdad infected with hydatidosis in different sites of the body (Liver, Lung, multiorgans and kidney) were collected for this study. On the other hand, 30 healthy individuals were included as a control group. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of this disease on the serum protein profile of the patients using electrophoresis. The results revealed four different protein banding patterns with difference in number of bands and their molecular weights in comparison to the control group, and these differences depended on the site of infection. However the data showed a presence of the same band in all patients with different site of infection.
Rheumatoid arthritis is one of the common chronic disease, which lead to great disability and chronic pain, and has a main adverse economic and social effect upon patients. The reason for the addition of quality of life as a pointer for health outcome result is attributed to the affectability of this measure for the evaluation of patient's health status after taken treatment and its health outcome. The purpose of the current study was to assess quality of life among a sample of Iraqi patients with rheumatoid arthritis and to determine the possible association between health’s related quality of life and some patient-certain factors. This study is a cross-sectional study carried out on 250 already diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis pat
... Show MoreGlutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are enzymes that included, in a more range of detoxifying reactions by conjugation of glutathione, to electrophilic material. Polymorphisms n the genes that responsible of GSTs affect, the function of the GSTs. GSTs play an active role in protection of cell against oxidative stress mechanism. Polymorphisms of GSTP1 at codon 105 amino acids forms GSTP1 important site for bind of hydrophobic electrophiles and the substitution of Ile/Val affect substrate specially catalytic activity of the enzyme and may correlate with reach to different diseases in human like diabetes mellitus type2 disease. Correlation between these polymorphisms and changes in the parameters file of diabetic patients has also bee
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