The present study was set to demonstrate the prevalence of toxoplasmosis infection and its effects on patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) through determining their serum levels of anti-dsDNA and IL-18 antibodies. For this purpose, the sera from 132 SLE and/or toxoplasmosis patients and 30 healthy women, were collected. The study sample was divided into four groups of SLE, toxoplasmosis, SLE coinfected with toxoplasmosis, and healthy control. Anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibodies were examined for all the samples using ELISA kit. The results showed a high mean level of anti-Toxoplasma IgG among SLE patients coinfected with toxoplasmosis (104.8792±12.31585pg/ml) in comparison to that in toxoplasmosis patients (91.1705±12.57746pg/ml). However, the mean value of anti-dsDNA antibodies showed significant (P≤0.01) elevation in SLE patients and SLE patients coinfected with toxoplasmosis (71.2134±9.22131pg/ml and 72.3699±9.67917 pg/ml, respectively), compared to those infected with toxoplasmosis only and healthy control. Furthermore, the IL-18 mean value in the sera of the studied patients showed significant (P≤0.01) elevation (418.4000±43.18072pg/ml) in SLE patients with toxoplasmosis in comparison to SLE patients (354.4400±35.29257pg/ml). The present investigation suggests that the levels of anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibodies seem to increase in patients with SLE.
The present study was undertaken to study the effect of apigenin and luteolin on physiological and histological changes in rats treated with cytarabine drugs. Thirty-five albino healthy male adult rats with equal age weighing 250 -300g were enrolled. Rats were randomly divided into seven groups according to the treatment. Group “1” was treated with normal saline and served as the control group. Groups “2,3 and 4” received cytarabine, apigenin, and luteolin respectively, while groups 5, 6, and 7 received a combination of “apigenin + cytarabine”, “luteolin + cytarabine”, and “apigenin + luteolin + cytarabine”, respectively. After one week of treatment, all seven groups of rats were
... Show MoreClinical index is needed to predict the outcome of pregnancy after in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection-embryo transfer (IVF/ICSI-ET) for infertile patients. Growth differentiation factor-8 (GDF-8), also known as myostatin, is one of transforming growth factor-â superfamily localized in antral follicles in normal and PCOS ovaries but its function in female reproductive system is still unknown. Aim of the study is to assess the correlation between levels of GDF8 in follicular fluid (FF) with outcomes of in vitro fertilization (IVF/ICSI) in women with and without PCOS. A prospective case control study was performed enrolling (40) patients with PCOS and (40) non-PCOS women (male infertility) undergoing IVF/ICSI. The collect
... Show MoreThe current study aims to investigate the effect of the interaction between the use of the improve strategy in teaching mathematics and the level of academic achievement on the acquisition of algebraic concepts and habits of mind among tenth-grade students in Oman. The study adopted the experimental method, based on a quasi-experimental design with two groups: experimental and control groups and pre-post-measurement. The study sample consisted of (28) 10th-grade students as an experimental group and 26 of 10th-grade students as a control group in Al-Tufail bin Amr School in South Al Batinah. The differences in the pretest and posttest gains were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, ANCOVA, t-test, effect size (eta-square), and two-wa
... Show MoreThe aim of the present study is to investigate whether or not xanthine oxidase (XO)–derived reactive oxygen species (ROS) may play a role in the pathogenesis of alloxan (ALX)–induced diabetes in rats using the specific XO inhibitor and hydroxyl radical scavenger, allopurinol
The involvement of oxidative stress in ALX – diabetes was assessed by the measurement of plasma and various tissues lipid peroxides levels ( using thiobarbituric acid ( TBA ) reactive substances ). Furthermore, the ability of allopurinol to influence these and other biochemical parameters, including plasma and urine ketones levels were also investigated in diabetic rats.
Rats were divided into four groups: control, untreated diabe
... Show MoreBreast cancer has got much attention in the recent years as it is a one of the complex diseases that can threaten people lives. It can be determined from the levels of secreted proteins in the blood. In this project, we developed a method of finding a threshold to classify the probability of being affected by it in a population based on the levels of the related proteins in relatively small case-control samples. We applied our method to simulated and real data. The results showed that the method we used was accurate in estimating the probability of being diseased in both simulation and real data. Moreover, we were able to calculate the sensitivity and specificity under the null hypothesis of our research question of being diseased o
... Show MoreThe current investigation examines the combined impacts of ultrasonic radiation and hydrogen donors on the viscosity of heavy crude oil. The impact of exposure time, power, duty cycle, and temperature on the viscosity of Iraqi heavy crude oil with 20.32 API was studied. Also, the viscosity of the oil samples, which were mixed with a hydrogen donor (decalin) and subjected to ultrasonic treatment under optimal conditions, was examined to evaluate the combined impact of ultrasonic radiation and hydrogen donor on the viscosity of crude oil. The viscosity experienced a decrease of 52.34% at 2 min of irradiation, 360 W ultrasonic power, 0.8 duty cycle, 35 ⁰C, and 8vol% decalin. To validate the outcomes of the experiments, asphaltene content, s
... Show MoreOrthodontic tooth movement is characterized by tissue reactions, which consist of an inflammatory response in periodontal ligament and followed by bone remodeling in the periodontium depending on the forces applied. These processes trigger the secretion of various proteins and enzymes into the saliva. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the activity of the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in saliva during orthodontic tooth movement using different magnitude of continuous orthodontic forces. Thirty orthodontic patients (12 males and 18 females) with ages 17-23 years with class II division I malocclusion all requiring bilateral maxillary first premolar extractions. Those patients were randomly divided into 3 groups according to the magnitude
... Show MoreTigris River is one of the main important surface water resources in Iraq. This necessitates continuous study of its quality . The present study is concerned with the characteristics and quality of Tigris water passing through in Baghdad city. (eight) samples were collected from the river in the area Grea't City. The study periods were carried over four season, which has been sampled once represent the every season. First sampling 12-11-2012 represent the autumn season The second sampling 20-1-2013 to represent the winter season. The third in 25-3- 2013 to represent the Springer season. The fourth during 29-5-2013 to represent the summer spring season. In order to specify the water quality, a group of physical and chemical analyses have bee
... Show MoreAspergillus fumigatus considered to be the most important species to cause respiratory infection cases in both humans and animals especially in cats in the last decades. In this study, we focused on the isolation and identification of Aspergillus fumigates by collecting 40 samples in deferent veterinary clinics and stray cats in Baghdad city, during the period (October 2021 to January 2022), all samples were cultured on Sabouraud dextrose agar and malt extract agar. The isolates identified by the laboratory methods, it’s depend on macroscopic and microscopic appearance. The results showed that (40) swaps taken from the pharynx of infected cats, included: Aspergillus fumigatus 16 (40%), Aspergillus spp. 7 (17.5%), Aspergillus niger
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