Aim and Objectives: The objective of this study was to illustrate the link between periodontitis (PO) and endothelial dysfunction in hypertensive patients. Materials and Methods: This cross‑sectional study involved 53 hypertensive patients with or without PO compared with 28 healthy controls. On the basis of the study protocol, the participants were divided into three groups: Group (1): 24 patients with hypertension only, Group (2): 29 patients with hypertension and PO, and Group (3): 28 healthy controls. Lipid profile, endothelin‑1 (ET‑1), and high‑sensitivity C‑reactive protein (hs‑CRP) were measured. Blood pressure and body mass index (BMI) were evaluated. Diagnostic criteria of severe PO periodontal indices including plaque index, gingival index, and community periodontal index were estimated. Data collected during the study were analyzed using analysis of variance followed by Bonferroni post hoc test and unpaired t‑test (IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 20.0, 2014, IBM, Armonk, NY). Results: BMI was not differed in both groups, P = 0.08. Systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure were high in hypertensive patients with PO compared with hypertensive patients only, P = 0.04 and P = 0.03, respectively. Moreover, hypertensive patients with PO showed significant dyslipidemic status compared with hypertensive patients only (P < 0.05). Biomarker of endothelial dysfunction (ET‑1) was elevated in patients with PO (67.54 ± 13.56 pg/mL) compared with hypertensive patients only (23.67 ± 9.63 pg/mL), P = 0.0001. hs‑CRP serum level was increased patients with PO compared with hypertensive patients only, P = 0.002. PO indices were high in patients with PO compared with hypertensive patients only, P < 0.01. Conclusion: ET‑1 serum level is elevated in hypertensive patients with severe PO and correlated with cardio‑metabolic complications, mainly endothelial dysfunction. Therefore, ET‑1 serum level is regarded as a surrogate biomarker link PO with risk of endothelial dysfunction.
Recent studies have revealed some conflicting results about the health effects of caffeine. These studies are inconsistent in terms of design and population and source of consumed caffeine. In the current study, we aimed to evaluate the possible health effects of dietary caffeine intake among overweight and obese individuals.
In this cross-sectional study, 488 apparently healthy individuals with overweight and obesity were participated. Dietary intake was assessed by a Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) and
This study includes the synthesis of new derivatives of 1, 2, 4- Triazole which are contain Schiff bases derived from 1, 4, 5, 6- tetrahydropyrimidine. The structures of these derivatives were characterized from their melting points, infrared spectroscopy and elemental analysis. These derivatives were tested for inhibition of E-coli and were all found to be active.
Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine and metabolic disorder affecting women of reproductive age. Oxidative stress may contribute to its pathogenesis. Paraoxonase-1 (PON1) is an antioxidant enzyme associated with high-density lipoprotein, and its genetic polymorphisms may alter enzyme activity. This study aimed to investigate the association between PON1 L55M polymorphism (rs854560) and PCOS in Iraqi women.Methods: This case-control study included 80 women aged 20–35 years who were in good general health and matched for age and body mass index (BMI). Genomic DNA was extracted using a commercial kit. The PON1 L55M polymorphism was amplified by polymerase chain reaction and genotyped by direct sequen
... Show MoreCrop diseases are usually caused by inoculum of pathogens which might exist on alternate hosts or weeds as endophytes. These endophytes, cum pathogens, usually confer some beneficial attributes to these weeds or alternate hosts from protection against herbivores, disease resistance, stress tolerance to secondary metabolites production. This study was therefore carried out to isolate potential crop pathogens which exist as endophytes on weed species in the University of Ilorin plantations. Green asymptomatic leaves were collected from 10 weed species across the plantations, and processed for their endophytic fungi isolation. Isolates were purified into pure cultures and used for molecular identification using the internal transcribed spac
... Show MoreAssessment of annual wind energy potential for three selected sites in Iraq has been analyzed in the present work. The wind velocities data from August 2014 to July 2015 were collected from the website of Weather Underground Organization (WUO) at stations elevation (35m, 32m, and 17m) for Baghdad, Najaf, and Kut Al-Hai respectively. Extrapolation of stations elevation and wind velocities was used to estimate wind velocities at (60m, 90m, and 120m). The objectives are to analyze the wind speed data and assess the wind energy potential for wind energy applications. Computer code for MATLAB software has been developed to solve the mathematical model. The results are presented as a monthly and annual average for wind velocities, standard deviat
... Show MoreAccurate prediction of river water quality parameters is essential for environmental protection and sustainable agricultural resource management. This study presents a novel framework for estimating potential salinity in river water in arid and semi‐arid regions by integrating a kernel extreme learning machine (KELM) with a boosted salp swarm algorithm based on differential evolution (KELM‐BSSADE). A dataset of 336 samples, including bicarbonate, calcium, pH, total dissolved solids and sodium adsorption ratio, was collected from the Idenak station in Iran and was used for the modelling. Results demonstrated that KELM‐BSSADE outperformed models such as deep random vector funct
Epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (
Background: Periodontal diseases (PD) are common chronic inflammatory diseases caused by pathogenic microorganisms colonizing the gingival area and inducing local and systemic elevations of pro-inflammatory cytokines resulting in tissue destruction by a destructive inflammatory process. Stress was considered as one of the important risk factors that cause many inflammatory diseases including PD. The purpose of this study wasto determines and compares clinical periodontal parameters (PLI, GI and BOP), stress level and salivary IL-1? level among dental students before, during and after mid-year exam, also to find the correlation among stress, IL-1? and clinical periodontal parameters. Materials and methods: The sample was consisted of 24 dent
... Show MoreBACKGROUND: Cough-variant asthma (CVA) is a type of asthma in which the main symptom is a dry, non-productive cough. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to evaluate the therapeutic effect of Montelukast in CVA and to investigate the prevalence of Montelukast in CVA. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 30 patients with chronic cough at least 8 weeks using Montelukast at Al-Kindy Hospital over the period of January 2018‒March 2018. An interview using questionnaire was used to collect the data that were specifically prepared to meet the objective of study including age, sex, associated disease, exacerbation factors, and classical therapy. RESULTS: There was a reduction of the symptoms associated
... Show MoreDiabetes mellitus type 2 (T2DM) formerly called non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) or adult-onset diabetes is a common disease. Rheumatoid factor is a well-established test used in the diagnosis and follows the prognosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Rheumatoid factor is sometimes found in serum of patients with other diseases including diabetes mellitus (DM), due to the presence of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF- α which play an important role in chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The aim of the study is to investigate the associations between type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in scope of rheumatoid factor (RF), hyperglycemia a
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