Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the association between polymorphisms in the promoter region of the tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) gene at locations -308G/A, -857C/T, and -863C/A with the tendency of being non-responder to etanercept.

Patients and methods: Between October 2020 and August 2021, a total of 80 patients (10 males, 70 females; mean age: 50 years; range, 30 to 72 years) with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) receiving etanercept for at least six months were included. The patients were divided into two groups responders and non-responders, based on their response after six months of continuous treatment. Following polymerase chain reac

Irinotecan (CPT-11) is a semisynthetic derivative of the antineoplastic agent camptothecin used in a wide range as an anti-cancer agent in many solid tumors because of its cytotoxic effect through the interaction with the topoisomerase I enzyme. The major limiting factors for irinotecan treatment are its association with potentially life-threatening toxicities including neutropenia and acute or delayed-type diarrhea, results from distinct interindividual and interethnic variability due to gene polymorphism.

This is a cross sectional pharmacogentics study was conducted on 25 cancer patients to estimate the prevalence of UGT1A1*93 and ABCC5 allele single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in Iraqi cancer patients treated with irinotecan

     Pseudomonas aeruginosa produces an extracellular biofilm matrix that consists of nucleic acids, exopolysaccharides, lipid vesicles, and proteins. Alginate, Psl and Pel are three exopolysaccharides that constitute the main components in biofilm matrix, with many biological functions attributed to them, especially concerning the protection of the bacterial cell from antimicrobial agents and immune responses. A total of 25 gentamicin-resistant P. aeruginosa selected isolates were enrolled in this study. Biofilm development was observed in 96% of the isolates. In addition, the present results clarified the presence of pelA and pslA in all the studied isolates. The expression of these genes was very low. Even though all biof

The current study aimed to detect the effect of gentamicin stress on the expression of hla (encodes hemolysin) and nuc (encodes nuclease) genes of Staphylococcus aureus. Fifty-eight isolates identified as S. aureus were isolated locally from different clinical specimens. Disk diffusion method was used to detect the resistance to S. aureus. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of gentamicin was estimated by broth microdilution method. hla and nuc genes were determined by polymerase chain reaction technique. The biofilm was evaluated using the microtiter plate method in the presence and absence of gentamicin at sub-MIC. The results showed that 18 (31%) and 40 (69%) S. aureus isolates were sensitive and resistant to gentamicin, respectiv

The present study aimed to determine the frequency of ABO and Rh blood group antigens among Sabians (Mandaeans) population. This paper document the frequency of ABO and Rh blood groups among the Sabians (Mandaeans) population of Iraq.There is no data available on the ABO/Rh (D) frequencies in the Sabians (Mandaeans) population. Total 341 samples analyzed; phenotype O blood type has the highest frequency 49.9%, followed by A 28.7%, and B 13.8% whereas the lowest prevalent blood group was AB 7.6%. The overall phenotypic frequencies of ABO blood groups were O>A>B>AB. The allelic frequencies of O, A, and B alleles were 0.687, 0.2 and 0.1122 respectively. Rhesus study showed that with a percentage of 96.2% Rh (D) positive is by far the mo

Many international studies indicated that the polymorphisms of some genes disturbed the folate homocysteine (Hcy) metabolism and increased the vulnerability to Down syndrome (DS). We aimed to measure the serum levels of folate and Hcy in DS children and compare the levels with age and sex-matched apparently normal healthy children. We also aimed to study the A80G polymorphism of the gene reduced folate carrier (RFC1) in the DS children as a risk factor. Forty children with DS (24 were boys, and 16 were girls) with the age range between 5-13 years, and 26 normal healthy children (16 boys and ten girls) were included in this study. The results show that the highest genotype in the control group was AG (53.85%) followed by AA and GG (30.

The current work aims to evaluate the association between genetic mutations in thymidylate synthetase (TYMS gene in exon1 and partial regions of promotor and intron 1 [877 bp, 657,220–658,096 bp]) and the therapeutic outcomes for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) Iraqi patients. An observational cross-sectional study involving 95 RA patients with established RA patients based on their methotrexate treatment responsiveness. Genetic sequencing of the TYMS gene was performed for all patients according to the instruction manuals of the sequencing company (Macrogen Inc. Geumchen, South Korea). Four polymorphisms were identified by sequencing 95 randomly selected patients in the noncoding region of TYMS