Background: Mouth breathing can lead to introduce cold, dry unprepared air that insults the tissue of oral cavity, nasopharynx and lung, leading in turn to pathological changes in oronasal cavity, nasopharyngeal and other respiratory tissue, mouth breathing associated with nasal obstruction may lead to many health problems, in particular oral health problems such as inflammation of gingiva, oral dryness, change in oral environment that may decrease pH, salivary flow rate and increase bacteria and dental caries.Aims of the present study were to assess the oral health condition among mouth breather associated with nasal obstruction, including dental caries, oral cleanliness and gingival health condition as well as to evaluate the changes in s

A total of 41 patients with gastro duodenal symptoms (show signs of inflammation with or without duodenal ulcer) . 21 males (51.2%) and 20 female (48.8%) with an average age 0f  (20 – 80) years old under  going gastrointestinal endoscopy at Baghdad teaching hospital in internal disease clinical laboratory , between (February – June)  2009 . Biopsies specimen of antrum , gastric fundus ,& duodenal bulb were examined by the following methods (rapid urease test , Giemsa stain section to detect bacteria , & Haematoxilin and Eosin stained section for pathological study which are considered the gold standard methods , sera or plasma from these patients were tested by immunochromotography (ICM),serological m

Background: Biologically active substances, such as Cathepsin B (CAB) which is a lysosomalcystein protease may be involved in periodontal metabolism in the degradation of organic bone matrix containing collagen fibers in response to mechanical stress from orthodontic appliance. The aims of study were to determine and compare salivary levels of CAB, pH as well as clinical periodontal parameters (Plaque index PLI and gingival index GI) with different orthodontic force magnitudes at different time intervals. Materials and methods: A twenty-four patients (both gender) with age range (17-23) years had Angle's Class II division 1 malocclusion with GI >0.5 enrolled in this study. The level of salivary CAB and pH, in addition to the clinical period

Background: Asthma is a disease of the airways characterized by chronic inflammation associated with airway hyper-responsiveness and airway wall remodeling. Aims of the study: The aims of this study was to determine the prevalence of oral manifestations , identify different microorganism from oral micro flora and determination of salivary IgA and salivary flow rate in asthmatic patients taking different dose of Prednisolone in comparison with control group. Subjects, materials and methods: The study included 17 patients under treatment with Prednisolone (10-20 mg),15 patients take (20-30 mg) of Prednisolone and other 18 patients take (30 – 40mg) of Prednisolone, and 25 healthy control group (10 male and 15 female). Results : The mo

Oral carcinoma is the 6th most common cancer in the world. MicroRNAs are small non-coding single stranded RNAs. They have been shown to be capable of altering mRNA expression; thus some are oncogenic or tumor suppressive in nature. The salivary microRNA-31 has been proposed as a sensitive marker for oral malignancy since it was abundant in saliva more than in plasma. A total of 55 whole saliva samples were collected from 35 cases diagnosed with OC their ages and gender matched with 20 healthy subjects. TaqManq RT-PCR was performed for RNA samples. Mean age was 52.23+13.73 years in cases (range:17-70 years) with male predominance represented 69%. Risk of smoking and alcoholism was highly significant. The median fold change of miR-31 was sign

Background: Beta-thalassemia major is the most common monogenic known disorder in the Middle East, characterized by anomalies in the synthesis of the beta chains of hemoglobin resulting in variable phenotypes ranging from severe anemia to clinically asymptomatic Individuals. This study aimed to evaluate salivary flow rate and salivary IgA in β-thalassemia major patients. Since many oral and systemic conditions manifest themselves as changes in the flow and composition of saliva the dental practitioner is advised to remain up-to-date with this issue. Materials and methods: The study samples consist of (60) subjects, patients group composed of (30) patients with β –thalassemia major, age rang (5-23) years and (30) healthy locking

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive airflow limitation that is preventable but not curable. It is associated with persistent symptoms that cause a considerable burden on individual productivity at work, and daily activities, and reduced quality of life, also burdening the healthcare system and society. Objectives: The study aims to measure the burden of COPD on patients in terms of daily activities and work productivity. It also seeks to investigate some inflammatory biomarkers' levels and their correlation with selected outcomes. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study on 120 stable COPD patients who were diagnosed and treated according to the GOLD guidelines at Kirkuk General Hospital's