HBV and HCV are the major causes of chronic liver diseases throughout the world, and constitute a major global health risk. There is accumulated evidence that the imbalance of proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokine production may play an important role in the pathogenesis of viral hepatic infections and may influence the clinical outcome and disease progression. This study was undertaken to analyze the circulating levels of Tumor Necrotic Factor (TNF-α) and Th2 cytokine IL-10 in patients infected with Hepatitis B and C virus. The study population consisted of 30 patients with chronic HBV, in addition to other 30 patients with chronic HCV infection were recruited on their first examination at the Al-Kindy General Hospital in Baghdad city. Another 12 healthy individuals with negative hepatitis serology as normal controls were observed. TNF-α level was significantly increased in chronic HBV infected patients compared with normal controls (6.81± 1.25 vs. 5.62± 1.71 pg/ml, p= 0.001). Similarly, the levels of the TNF-α was significantly elevated in HCV patients (8.62± 0.79 pg/ml) after comparison with its level in HBV patients (p= 0.023). Serum levels of Th2 cytokines IL-10 were also elevated in chronic HBV infected patients (25.05± 3.90 pg/ml) and in HCV infected patients (28.07± 3.35 pg/ml)
SUMMARY. The objectives of the present study were to assess the possible predictors of COVID-19 severity and duration of hospitalization and to identify the possible correlation between patient parameters, disease severity and duration of hospitalization. The study included retrospective medical record extraction of previous coron avirus COVID-19 patients in Basra hospitals, Iraq from March 1st and May 31st, 2020. The information of the participants was investigated anonymously. All the patients’ characteristics, treatments, vital signs and laboratory tests (hematological, renal and liver function tests) were collected. The analysis was conducted using the SPSS (version 22, USA). Spearman correlation was used to measure the relations
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Background: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is caused of 85% of all lung cancers. Among the most important factors for lung tumor growth and proliferation are the tyrosine kinase receptors that coded by the epidermal growth factor recep-tor (EGFR) gene. Activation of EGFR ultimately leads to developing of lung cancer. The present study was undertaken with an objective to detect EGFR mutations in bronchial wash from Iraqi patients with NSCLC before treatment. Methods: DNA was extracted from bronchial wash samples collected from 50 patients with NSCLC by using a Qiamp DNA Mini Kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany). Then, EGFR mutations were determined by using real-time RCR combined with two technologies, Amplification Refractory Mutation System (
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Background: Central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR) is an idiopathic condition aggravated by exogenous or endogenous glucocorticoids. Vascular deregulation in the choroid is a new hypothesis regarding central serous chorioretinopathy occurrence. The inhibition of choroidal mineralocorticoid receptors has a great role in shortening the duration of CSCR by inhibiting choroidal vasodilatation and leak.
Objective: To assess the effect of oral spironolactone on subretinal fluid, central macular thickness and visual acuity in patients with acute CSCR compared to observation.
Subjects and Methods: a hospital based, randomized clinical trial carried out at outpatient clinic in Ibn-Alhaitham Teaching E
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To assess the impact of COVID‐19 on oral hygiene (OH) awareness, attitude towards dental treatment, fear of infection and economic impact in the Middle East.
This survey was performed by online distribution of questionnaires in three countries in the Middle East (Jordan, Iraq and Egypt). The questionnaire consisted of five sections: the first section was aimed at collecting demographic data and the rest sections used to assess OH awareness, attitude towards dental treatment, degree of fear and economic impact of COVID‐19. The answers were either multiple choice, closed‐end (Yes or N
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The serum protein test includes measurement of the level of total protein(albumin, globulin). Fetuin-A is a blood protein made in liver. It can inhibit insulin receptor, enhance insulin sensitivity and make the individuals more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, then disorder in lipid profile (Total cholesterol(TC), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), Triglyceride(TG) and very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-c) . To evaluate Fetuin-A, total protein, albumin, globulin, HbAlc and lipid profile in 200 adult and elderly Iraqi patients with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus were taken and compare them with 200 subjects as a healthy control. The laboratory analysis(for patients and
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4 Blood Res 2018;53:314-319. Received on August 11, 2018 Revised on August 30, 2018 Accepted on August 30, 2018 Background Iron overload is a risk factor affecting all patients with thalassemia intermedia (TI). We aimed to determine whether there is a relationship of serum ferritin (SF) and alanine ami- notransferase (ALT) with liver iron concentration (LIC) determined by R2 magnetic reso- nance imaging (R2-MRI), to estimate the most relevant degree of iron overload and best time to chelate in patients with TI. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 119 patients with TI (mean age years) were randomly se- lected and compared with 120 patients who had a diagnosis of thalassemia major (TM). Correlations of LIC, as determined by R2-MRI, with SF
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Systemic lupus Erythematosus is an autoimmune disease of unknown aetiology affecting multiple organ system. Reactive nitrogen and oxygen species are claimed to play a role in this disease. However, the potential of Nitrosative/Oxidative Stress to elicit an autoimmune, response remain till now largely unexplored in humans. This study was done to investigate the status and contribution of nitrosative/oxidative stress in Iraqi patients for systemic lupus erythematosus. Blood samples from 19 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and 19 age-and sex- matched apparently healthy controls were evaluated for serum levels of nitrosative/oxidative stress markers including nitric oxide, peroxynitrite and malondialdehyde. Nitric oxide levels were
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