Toxoplasmosis is regarded as one of the most important global life-threatening diseases in immune-compromised people. The intracellular protozoon Toxoplasma gondii is the causative pathogen of toxoplasmosis. Aim of this study is to investigate the possible association between T. gondii infection and breast cancer (BC) in Iraqi women, also to assess the effect of T. gondiion interleukin 10 (IL-10) of the immune response. By ELISA method, blood samples from 81 women with breast cancer and 60 apparently healthy women have been examined for presence of anti-toxoplasmaantibodies, also the levels of serum IL-10 were estimated in these subjects. Results showed that women with BC had the highest prevalence rate of toxoplasmosis. The anti- T.gondiiantibodies was 38.27% for IgG and 4.93% for IgM, while in the control group it was 26.66% and 0.0% respectively, with no significant difference for IgG (P =0.148) and IgM (P = 0.081). A highly significant difference was found in the level of IL-10 between BC women with toxoplasmosis (10.24%) and BC women without toxoplasmosis (3.6%).These findings suggest that incidence rate of T. gondii infection is higher in breast cancer women and higher level of IL-10than their cross-matched control subjects. Therefore, we recommend the inclusion of a screening test for toxoplasmosis and the level of IL-10 in BC patients as in their routine workup.
Background: Pregnancy is a natural physiological state that involves several biochemical modifications. Saliva is consisted of many types of proteins such as salivary alpha amylase and salivary peroxidase that might be affected by pregnancy. The former enzyme is considered one of the most prevalent proteins that is released by highly differentiated epithelial acinar cells and has been shown to have enzymatic activities while the latter has been approved that it has a significant role in oral health. The purpose of this study was to the evaluate the salivary levels of alpha-amylase and peroxidase in pregnant and non-pregnant women. Materials and Methods: Sixty pregnant women were grouped according to the pregnancy trimesters. The first
... Show MoreMultiple studies support a role for inflammation in the pathogenesis of coronary atherosclerosis and unstable cardiac syndromes. However, of the known pro-inflammatory cytokines, only elevated plasma levels of interleukin-6(IL-6) have been linked to Unstable Angina. We sought to examine the plasma levels of other major proinflammatory cytokines in similar clinical settings patients with unstable angina and acute myocardial infarction and the relationship extent between them. This study aimed to investigate and compare the level of IL-1 in Unstable Angina and Acute Myocardial Infarction patients. Thirty patients with unstable angina and thirty patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction, also thirty healthy individual as control were included
... Show MoreBackground: The presence of cancer has a profound psychological impact on the quality of life of patients and their families, on family and social relationships, and on role functioning.
Aim of the study: Assess the impact of childhood cancer on patients and their families.
Subjects and methods: A Prospective questionnaire-based study, for 151 patients, had malignancy identified by tumor registry of Children Welfare Teaching Hospital. The information was taken from the parent(s) in the presence of the patient who sometimes answered some questions during the interview.
Result: There was an interview with 151 families of children with cancer in t
... Show MoreBackground: The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of fibroblast growth factor-2 and Heparanase in salivary pleomorphic adenoma, and to correlate the two studied markers with each other and with clinicopathological parameters including: age, sex, tumor site and histopathological presentation. Methods: Sections of twenty five formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tissue blocks specimens of salivary pleomorphic adenoma were immunostained using monoclonal antibodies (Fibroblast growth factor-2 and Heparanase) to assess their expression in this tumor. Results: The expression of fibroblast growth factor-2 and Heparanase were positive in all pleomorphic adenoma cases (100%). The positive expression of fibroblast growth factor-2 was signi
... Show MoreThe immune infertility caused by anti-sperm antibodies (ASAs) represented about 10–20% of infertility among the couples. The ASAs interfere with sperm parameters such as sperm motility and sperm ability to penetrate cervical mucus, sperm-oocyte binding, and fertilization and embryo development. Objectives: The present study designed to assess semen analysis, presence of ASAs and DNA fragmentation index as well as correlation within these parameters in normzoospermic Iraqi subjects Patients, Materials, and Methods: A total number of Iraqi subjects (116) with range of age (20-51) years and their mean duration of infertility (4.70 ± 2.77). Seminal fluid for macroscopic and microscopic assessments done according to WHO 2010 criteria. The
... Show MoreBackground: Asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) is
defined as isolation of a specified quantitative count
of bacteria in an appropriately collected urine
specimen from an individual without symptoms or
signs of urinary tract infection.
Aim of study: To evaluate the frequency of
bacteriuria according to age, pregnancy, and type II
diabetes mellitus in a sample of Iraqi women.
Patients and Methods: A total of 125 female
individuals were involved. The study participants
were classified into the following groups: nonpregnant
women with type II diabetes mellitus,
pregnant women with type II diabetes mellitus,
pregnant women without type II diabetes mellitus, and
apparently healthy non-pregnant women. Urine
Background Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of death worldwide. Ischemic heart disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Lack of blood supply to the brain can cause tissue death if any of the cerebral veins, carotid arteries, or vertebral arteries are blocked. An ischemic stroke describes this type of event. One of the byproducts of methionine metabolism, the demethylation of methionine, is homocysteine, an amino acid that contains sulfur. During myocardial ischemia, the plasma level of homocysteine (Hcy) increases and plays a role in many methylation processes. Hyperhomocysteinemia has only recently been recognized as a major contributor to the increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) owing to its eff
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