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.
Adenosine deaminase (ADA; Ec: 3.5.4.4), 5´- Nucleotidase (5´– NT; Ec: 3.1.3.5), and AMP – amino hydrolase (AMP – deaminase AMPDA; Ec: 3.5.4.6) activities were measured in sera of ovarian cancer patients before surgery, and after chemotherapy. The results indicated that ADA specific activity increased significantly (P<0.05), while 5´-NT and AMPDA specific activity decreased significantly (P<0.05) in ovarian cancer patients before surgery in comparison with those of their corresponding control women and benign tumors groups. When the activities of these enzymes were measured after chemotherapy, a significant decrease (P<0.05) in ADA activity, and a significant increase (P<0.05) in 5´- NT and AMPDA activities w
... Show MorePvcABCD are cluster of genes found in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The research was designed to examine the relationship between the pvc genes expression and cupB gene, which plays a crucial role in the development of biofilm, and rhlR, which regulates the expression of biofilm-related genes, and to investigate whether the pvc genes form one or two operons. The aims were achieved by employing qRT-PCR technique to measure the gene expression of genes of interest. It was found that out of 25 clinical isolates, 21 isolates were qualified as P.aeruginosa. Amongst, 18(85.7%) were evaluated as biofilm producers, 10 (47.6%), 5 (23.8%), and 3 (14.2%) were evaluated as strong, moderate and weak producers respectively, while, 3 (14.2%) were considered
... Show MoreForty – two elderly hypothyroidism patients and forty – two apparently healthy as control groups , divided to (21) male (M) and (21) female (F) also (21) control male C(M) and (21) control female C(F) aged > 60 years, were tested for the presence of thyroid peroxidase autoantibody (TPo – Ab) and thyroglobulin auto antibody (Tg – Ab) , also for Se and Zn levels in their sera . The results revealed a significant increase in (TPO – Ab) and (Tg – Ab) for group (M) and (F) compared to control group , also a siginificant increase in TPo – Ab and Tg – Ab for (F) compared to (M) was found. A significant decrease in Se and Zn level for (M) and (F) compared to control group, while no significant difference between (M) and (F). In conc
... Show MoreMany diseases can produce cardiac overload, of these disease hypertension, valve disease congenital anomaly in addition to many other disease. One of the most common diseases causing left ventricle overload is hypertension. A long term hypertension can cause myocardium hypertrophy leading to changes in the cardiac contractility and reduced efficiency. The investigations were carried out using conventional echocardiography techniques in addition to the tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) from which many noninvasive measurements can be readily obtained. The study has involved the effect of hypertension on the myocardium stiffness index through the measurement of early diastolic filling (E) and the early velocity of lateral mitral annulus (E
... Show MoreMany diseases can produce cardiac overload, of these disease hypertension, valve disease congenital anomaly in addition to many other disease. One of the most common diseases causing left ventricle overload is hypertension. A long term hypertension can cause myocardium hypertrophy leading to changes in the cardiac contractility and reduced efficiency. The investigations were carried out using conventional echocardiography techniques in addition to the tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) from which many noninvasive measurements can be readily obtained. The study has involved the effect of hypertension on the myocardium stiffness index through the measurement of early diastolic filling (E) and the early velocity of lateral mitral annulus (Ea
... Show MoreBackground Median sternotomy is the gold standard incision for most cardiac operations. However, with the advent of minimal invasive surgery, a new approach emerged in cardiac surgery named mini-sternotomy and has been successfully used to perform a variety of operations.
The aim of this paper is to present our experience of using mini-sternotomy to harvest the left internal mammary artery (LIMA) for off-pump revascularization of the left anterior descending artery (LAD)
Methodology Over a 2-year period (October 2012-October 2014), 100 patients underwent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) via conventional median sternotomy (CMS) (n=80) and mini-sternotomy (MS) (n=20). The
... Show MoreHypercholesterolemia is a predominant risk factor for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease (CVD). The World Health Organization (WHO), ) recommended reducing the intake of cholesterol and saturated fats. On the other hand, limited evidence is available on the benefits of vegetables in the diet to reduce these risk factors, so this research was conducted to compare the hypolipidemic effect between the extracts of two different types of Iraqi peppers, the fruit of the genus Capsicum traditionally known as red pepper extract (RPE), and Piper nigrum as black pepper extract (BPE), respectively, in different parameters and histology of the liver of the experimental animals. The red pepper was extracted by ethyl acetate, while the black pepp
... Show MoreBackground: The apical seal is the single most important factor in determining the success of surgical endodontics, the aim of this study was to compare the sealing ability of Mineral Trioxide Aggregate in three different cavity designs. Materials and Methods: Thirty extracted human single-rooted teeth were divided into three groups of ten teeth per group, a retrograde cavity preparation was carried out using a low speed handpiece and round bur with parallel walls in the first group, ultrasonic retrotip and unit in the second group and a low speed handpiece with a carbide inverted cone bur with undercuts in the third group, all the cavities were filled with MTA. microleakage was measured by dye penetration technique using methylene blue. Re
... Show MoreThe research aims to shed light on the importance of Natural gas as a National wealth is not being used optimally to be a financial resource is important to Iraq in addition to Oil, as well as could be used as an important Source of Energy, instead of burning gas is a waste of wealth and Contribute to the contamination of the environment. Research Reviews the importance of Natural gas, where is currently about a quarter of global energy consumption. Then deals with the reality of the gas industry in Iraq and winning because of the volume of waste incineration, which reached a rate (45%) of the gas Associated with oil, where Iraq is fourth globally in Terms of the amount of gas Burned. Finally, this paper discusses the future of n
... Show MoreAbstract The relative pronoun in Hebrew language is an important pronoun use anciently and recently, it developed and it's usage and meanings differed so, it was not confined to the particle "אֲשֶׁר" as a relative pronoun, but beside it appeared other pronouns giving the relative meaning. Hence, the topic of this research was on this basis through studying the relative pronouns in old and modern Hebrew, the way of using them and their connection with preposition particles, as well as studying the relative clause.