BACKGROUND: Montelukast (Singulair) is a cysteinyl leukotriene receptor antagonist, used for the maintenance treatment of asthma and to relieve symptoms of seasonal allergic rhinitis and asthma, also used for exercise-induced bronchospasm. AIM: This study was performed to determine the prevalence of Montelukast use as an add-on therapy among Iraqi asthmatic patients on treatment. Comparing the effectiveness of regimens with and without montelukast. METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on 73 Iraqi asthmatic patients on treatment of both sexes with age range (18-60) years old, attending Al-Kindy Teaching Hospital and Al-Zahraa Centre of Asthma and Allergy, Baghdad, for the period between February and March 2017. A questionnaire was specifically prepared to meet the objectives and was used to collect the data of the study. RESULTS: There was a significant statistical reduction of frequency in asthmatic attacks after Montelukast treatment (p-value < 0.05). Out of 73 patients, 39 were males, and 34 were females, 46 were jobless, 37 were married, 63 were urban residents, 63 were educated. Prevalence of exacerbation factors was as following: infection was found in 60.3% of the patients, exercise in 57.5%, dust in 72.6%, smoking in 60.6%, food in 24.7%, others (stress, perfumes) in 20.5%. The prevalence of Montelukast use in this study was 46% (34 patients). Out of 34 patients using Montelukast, 28 were using inhaled salbutamol, 5 were using oral salbutamol, 15 were using inhaled corticosteroids, 9 were using systematic corticosteroids, 2 were using xanthines, and 6 were using ketotifen. CONCLUSION: Montelukast was used as add-on therapy with the inhaled corticosteroids to reduce the required dose of inhaled corticosteroids also the use of Montelukast lead to reduced number of exacerbations which will be reflected on the use of inhaled salbutamol and systematic corticosteroids. Also, Montelukast was superior to xanthines and ketotifen as an add-on therapy.
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with polymorphic expression. B cells have an essential contribution in immune system activation via the production of different cytokines and functioning as potent antigen-presenting cells. Therefore, a drug that particularly targets B cells may represent an ideal therapeutic approach for SLE. Rituximab (RTX), an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody causing transient B-cell depletion, has been used to manage SLE. This study aims to assess Rituximab effects on lupus nephritis (LN) patients when added to conventional immunosuppressants. Twenty four patients, 15-32 years old, with class III/IV/V LN were involved in this study. All were on steroids before lupus nephritis occurrence. They were
... Show MoreThe main function of a power system is to supply the customer load demands as economically as possible. Risk criterion is the probability of not meeting the load. This paper presents a methodology to assess probabilistic risk criteria of Al-Qudus plant before and after expansion; as this plant consists of ten generating units presently and the Ministry Of Electricity (MOE) is intending to compact four units to it in order to improve the performance of Iraqi power system especially at Baghdad region. The assessment is calculated by a program using Matlab programming language; version 7.6. Results show that the planned risk is (0.003095) that is (35 times) less than that in the present plant risk; (0.1091); which represents respectable imp
... Show MoreT-cell activation and alteration of cytokine levels are involved in the pathogenesis of asthma. However, the profile of circulating T-lymphocyte subsets and related cytokines during asthmatic attacks is still unclear. We compared the serum concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines Interleukine-18( IL-18) and Interleukine-12(IL-12), T-helper 2 (Th2) cytokine Interleukine-13(IL-13 ) and Immunoglobuline-E ( IgE) in 27 asthmatic children and 21 sex and age matched healthy control subjects. Serum cytokines and IgE concentrations were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Serum IL-13 , IL-18 and IgE concentrations were significantly higher in asthmatic patients than normal control subjects ( IL-13: median 9.73 versus 4.43 pg/ml, P&l
... Show MoreIn addition to its basic communicative function, language can be used to imply information that is not actually stated, i.e. addressers do not always state exactly (or directly) what they mean. Such instances fall within the domain of pragmatics in that they have to do with how addressers use language to communicate in a particular situation by implication rather than by direct statement. The researcher attempts to demonstrate that the beauty and the multiple layers of meaning in poetry can be better explored if the addressee looks at the lines from a pragmatic perspective in search for implied meaning. There are many devices that can convey implied meaning in poetry, among which are 'rhetorical', 'figurative' or 'literary' devices. But
... Show MoreThe meteorite with a single total mass of 630 gm as a visible meteorite has fallen on 22 March 2021, at 10:00 a.m. in Al-Sherqat subdistrict within Salah Al-Din, northern Iraq; and therefore, was named Al-Sherqat meteorite by the authors. It is characterized by a uniform structure of coherent and medium degree of malleability. It is of a well-crystalline structure and not homogeneous in composition. The Al-Sherqat meteorite is composed of metallic phases of 7.6 gm/cm3 density exhibiting an oriented intergrowth of kamacite (α-FeNi) with taenite showing a Widmanstätten pattern on an etched polished section with the finest octahedrite kamacite bandwidth of less than 0.2 mm. It is composed of Fe (86.9 wt%), Ni (9.63 wt%), P (1.31 wt%)
... Show MoreThe present study was performed to detect the molecular and the phylogenetic identification of species that belonging to the genus of Moniezia Blanchard, 1891 which affected intestines of sheep in Al-Diwaniyah city, Iraq; fifty intestine samples were sought for the infestation of Moniezia spp. from the city slaughterhouse from 1 October to 30 November 2017, this tapeworm was found to infest the intestines of 13 sheep.
For morphological identify the genus of this tapeworm, eggs from one gravid proglottid of the thirteen worms were examined, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the PCR-product-based sequencing were applied on 4 Moniezia tapeworms targeti
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Abu Al-Ala Al-Ma’arri is a linguist and writer who showed his prowess in poetry, so he had poetry collections, including “The ulna fell,” which is one of the books that attracted the attention of scholars such as (Tabrizi, Al-Khwarizmi, Al-Bateliusi and Al-Zamakhshari) .
To explain his language in it, the investigators’ hands finally revealed an explanation of this book, which was the work of Abu Al-Ala Al-Ma’arri himself. Those who studied the Divan (The Zind) and its explanations or the character and language of Al-Ma’arri did not pay any attention to it. Therefore, I made this research a continuation of those efforts, using semantic research as a means of revealing Al-Maarri's ef
... Show MoreResearch objective: This research aims to unveil how to use the method of referral in understanding the Holy Quran.
The reason for choosing the research: The one that invited me to write on this topic is the importance of the referral method, so I liked the research in it, and unveiled this wonderful Qur’anic method, so that it helps to understand the intention of God Almighty in his dear book.
The research plan: The research was divided into three topics and a conclusion.
As for the first topic, it is divided into two requirements. The first requirement deals with the definition of referral language.
In the second re