Background: Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is an autoimmune vesiculobullous mucocutaneous disease with life-threatening consequences. Rituximab (RTX) has recently emerged as an effective treatment for PV. Objectives: This study aims to determine changes in neutrophil and platelet counts for PV patients treated with RTX or corticosteroids combined with Imuran (azathioprine). Materials and Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Dermatology at Baghdad Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq. Thirty PV patients received two types of treatment: 15 patients were administered RTX and 15 patients took corticosteroids with Imuran (azathioprine). Neutrophil and platelet counts were detected at the hospital laboratory. Results: The age range of PV patients was 27–67 years, and the mean ±SD was 44.866 ± 10.979 years for the patient group treated with RTX and 44.133 ± 11.519 for the patient group treated with corticosteroids and Imuran. In patients treated with RTX, 26.6% were males and 73.33% were females, with a female-to-male ratio of 2.75:1. In patients treated with corticosteroids with Imuran, 40% were males and 60% were females, with a female-to-male ratio of 1.5:1. The results revealed that among patients treated with RTX, 30% of them had mucocutaneous lesions, 6.66% had oral lesions, and 13.33% had cutaneous lesions. Among the other groups treated with corticosteroids and Imuran, 23.33% had mucocutaneous lesions, 13.33% had oral lesions, and 13.33% had cutaneous lesions. Among the patients treated with RTX, 53.33% had normal range of neutrophil count, while 46.6% had neutrophil count above the NR, while in patients treated with corticosteroids and Imuran, 40% had a normal range and 60% had above the normal range. Conclusion: RTX was a more effective treatment compared to corticosteroids with Imuran because no patient remained in an active state during this study. PV was prevalent in females aged 40 years with mucocutaneous lesions.
Sickle cell disease (SCD) comprises an inherited blood disorder that is life long and affects many people globally. In spite of the development in treatment, SCA is a considerable cause of mortality and morbidity. The present study tries to assess the role of leukocytes represented by β integrin(CD18) and platelets and their productivity in the pathogenicity of disease during the steady state and crisis in comparison with the healthy as-control group, SCD patients (15) enrolled during crisis and steady state (follow up) showed a significant increase in leukocytes and platelets cells productivity during crisis when compared to the steady state and in the steady state when compared to the healthy control group . In this study, SCD patho
... Show MoreBackground: Radioactive iodine-131 therapy is highly effective in treating patients with hyperthyroidism. An ablative dose is preferred by a number of endocrinologists, and, a fixed dose protocol seems to be better than a calculated dose in real practice.
Objective: To check for hypothyroidism in hyperthyroid patients one year after RAI therapy, comparing between the results of high ablative versus usual dosages of RAI-131.
Methods: This study included 174 hyperthyroid patients, 101 males and 73 females, divided into 2 groups, the first consisted of 162 patients given a usual fixed dose of RAI while the second consisted of 12 patients given a high fixed ablati
... Show MoreBackground: Osteoporosis is denoted by low bone mass and microarchitectural breakdown of bone tissue, directing to increased fracture risk and bone fragility. Fractures may lead to a decreased quality of life and increased medical costs. Thus, osteoporosis is widely considered a significant health concern.
Objective. This study aimed to compare quantitative computed tomography (QCT) and dual-energy X-Ray absorptiometry (DXA) to detect osteoporosis in postmenopausal women.
Subjects and Methods. We measured spinal volumetric bone mineral density (BMD) with QCT and areal spinal and hip BMD with DXA in 164 postmenopausal women. We calculated the osteo
... Show MoreBackground: Chronic periodontitis is an inflammatory disease that affects the supporting tissues of the teeth and it’s common among adults. Smoking is an important risk factor for periodontitis induces alveolar bone loss. Alkaline phosphatase enzyme is involved in the destruction of the human periodontium. It is produced by many cells such as polymorphonuclear leukocytes, osteoblasts, macrophages and fibroblasts within the area of the periodontium and gingival crevice. Osteocalcin is one of the most abundant matrix proteins found in bones and the only matrix protein synthesized exclusively there. Smaller Osteocalcin fragments are found in areas of bone remodeling and are actually degradation products of the bone matrix.The purpose of
... Show MoreBackground: The SARS-CoV-2 virus causes COVID-19, a respiratory syndrome. It causes inflammation and damages several organs in the body. miRNAs play a role in regulating the infection resulting from SARS-CoV-2. MicroRNA-155, a kind of microRNA linked to viral defences, can affect the immune responses during COVID-19. Objectives: Examination of the involvement of microRNA-155 in the development and severity of COVID-19, as well as finding the correlation between microRNA-155 and viral load (copies/mL) in severe cases of the disease. Materials and Method: A case-control research study was performed between October 2022 and June 2023. It included a cohort of 120 hospitalised individuals with severe cases of COVID-19, together with 115 individu
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Abstract:
The models of time series often suffer from the problem of the existence of outliers that accompany the data collection process for many reasons, their existence may have a significant impact on the estimation of the parameters of the studied model. Access to highly efficient estimators is one of the most important stages of statistical analysis, And it is therefore important to choose the appropriate methods to obtain good estimators. The aim of this research is to compare the ordinary estimators and the robust estimators of the estimation of the parameters of
... Show MoreBackground: Periodontal disease (PD) is a chronic inflammatory condition characterized by destruction of supporting structures of the teeth. Intelligence quotient (IQ) was potentially reported to significantly associated with prevalence of gingivitis. Mild gingivitis was obtained in high IQ levels while moderate gingivitis may be attributed to poor oral hygiene seen among the subjects having low IQ levels. Method: One hundred volunteers aged between 20-45 years old were enrolled in this study, patients were equally divided into right- and left-handed (50 patients each)and each group then subdivided into patients with healthy gingiva(10), patients with gingivitis (20), and patients suffering from periodontitis (20).An IQ questionnaire was p
... Show MoreProsopis farcta has been used traditionally for several diseases as cardiovascular, kidney, diabetes, bacterial infection and it has diuretic activity. This study was designed to evaluate the diuretic effects of P. farcta extract in comparison with spironolactone and hydrochlorothiazide in normal and hypertensive rats.Forty eight rats, were divided into Two groups. The First group was consist of Twelve normotensive rats, to represent the control group and normal treated group receiving 50 mg/Kg of P. farcta extract; Six rats in each group.
The Second group involved 36 hypertensive rats, were divided into six subgroups, each of six rats. The First subgroups served as a positive control, the Second, Third
... Show MoreCarbon nanotubes (CNTs) were synthesized via liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as precursor using flame fragments deposition (FFD) technique. In vitro, biological activates of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) synthesized by FFD technique were investigated. The physiochemical characterizations of synthesized CNTs are similar to other synthesized CNTs and to the standard sample. Pharmaceutical application of synthesized CNTs was studied via conjugation and adsorption with different types of medicines as promote groups. The conjugation of CNTs was performed by adsorption the drugs such as sulfamethoxazole (SMX) and trimethoprim (TMP) on CNTs depending on physical properties of both bonded parts. The synthesized CNTs almost have the same performance in a
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