Background: Ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic inflammatory disease that mostly involves the spine and sacroiliac joints. It is associated with a decreased quality of life. Biological medicines such as infliximab and its biosimilar are the mainstay treatments for active ankylosing spondylitis.

Objective: The study objective was to conduct a pharmacoeconomic study comparing the cost-effectiveness of the reference infliximab with its biosimilar in ankylosing spondylitis patients visiting public hospitals.

Subjects and Method: This is a two-center pharmacoeconomic study performed at two large teaching governmental hospitals in Baghdad, Iraq, which s

      Immunological genes, including TLR3 and RIG-I, have recently been established to have linked to predisposition to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and its severity. The purpose of this case-control study (100 recovered COVID 19 cases and 100 healthy individuals) was to determine the role of gender, age, TLR3 and RIG-I genes in COVID-19 aggressiveness. TLR3 and RIG-I gene expression was detected using a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). COVID-19 infection intensity increased with age and no statistical difference between males and females (p>0.05) was found. TLR3 and RIG-I gene expression levels were higher in patients compared to hea

Hundreds of commensal bacteria are existed in the mouth and nose, and the interactions between these microbiotas and the Toll-like receptors (TLRs) in different parts of the upper respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract, and immune cells maty assist to maintain the homeostasis of the immune system. Thus, it is important
to study the relationship between type one hypersensitivity and normal flora in the mouth and nose. Blood and saliva or sputum samples of seventy-one allergic patients were collected randomly in Baghdad/ Al- Zahraa center for asthma and allergies. Those patients were suffering from different types of hypersensitivity type1 such as skin and respiratory tract allergy (e.g, asthma and

Objectives: With the advent of ongoing novel modalities toward the treatment of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)/NEU - positive malignancies, the serious side effects of chemoradiotherapy have been minimized. Hence, this study was conducted to identify the patterns of immunohistochemical expression of the promising therapeutic target (HER2/NEU) among Iraqi patients with medulloblastoma in an attempt to provide basic histological information’s that would help in future clinical researches.Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, 42 formalin - fixed paraffin - embedded tissue blocks represent cases of surgically removed medulloblastomas were retrieved from the archived materials in a specialized surgical ho

Background : Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most common entrapment neuropathy of upper extremities and Open carpal tunnel release is the most frequent surgical procedure and the gold standard for cases that do not respond to conservative treatment. Aims :This study is used to evaluate the functional outcome of limited palmar mini-incision of carpal tunnel release. This study aims to determine the safety and symptomatic and functional efficacy of median nerve decompression with limited incision in carpal tunnel syndrome surgery. Patients and methods:Carpal tunnel release with a 1.5-2 cm limited palmar incision was performed on 20 patients. Patients were evaluated initially at one month after treatment according to symptom severity

  Cardiovascular diseases CVD are responsible for the majority of death in many countries, the term cardiovascular disease CVD includes several diseases such as: coronary artery diseases (angina, myocardial infaraction MI, atherosclerosis) and stroke. These diseases cause elevation of TC, TG, LDL, VLDL, and MDA levels in plasma and decrease of HDL levels and PON activity in plasma, because of elevation in lipid peroxidation (LPO) activity.  Catechins is a water extract of green tea composed of: (-)epicatchin EC, ECG, EGC, EGCG, (+) catechin C and GC, these compounds play great roles against chronic diseases such as CVD. The effect of catechins extract on the preceding biochemical parameters was investigated in 40 volunteer male

Rheumatoid arthritis and periodontitis use analogous effector destructive procedures, in that the inflammatory cells and pro-inflammatory cytokines that drive chronic bone erosion in RA and chronic periodontal destruction in Periodontitis are alike. Periodontitis (PD) has appeared as a hazard factor in a number of health situations as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). To determine the effect of anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha biological treatment (methotrexate and Enbrel or infliximab) on periodontal status of patients having rheumatoid arthritis with periodontitis in comparison to those having periodontitis without rheumatoid arthritis and control healthy subjects and to determine the serum levels of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (ACCP) in t

Background : To assess the actual practice of breast self-examination (BSE), as an early detection tool for breast cancer, among a sample of patients affected with breast cancer in Iraq.Methods: A random sample of 200 female patients with breast cancer was analyzed to evaluate the extent of their actual practice of breast self-examination before the diagnosis of the disease.  The examined variables included the age of the patients, marital status, education, occupation, smoking habit, family history of cancer, frequency of gravidity, parity and abortions. Results: The age of patients ranged from (24-70) years with a mean age of 48 years. The highest frequency of the examined sample

Objective: The study aimed to assess the postoperative nurses' intervention for the patients with laparoscopic
cholecystectomy and to determine the relationship between Nurses' interventions and their demographic
characteristics.
Methodology: Quantitative design (a descriptive study) was started from 20th November 2012 up to 1st
September 2013. Non-probability (purposive sample) of (50) nurses, who were working in surgical wards, were
selected from Baghdad teaching hospitals (Baghdad Teaching Hospital, Digestives System and Liver Teaching
Hospital, AL-Kindy Teaching Hospital, and AL-Kadhimiyia Teaching Hospita). The data were collected through
the use of a constructed questionnaire, which consisted of two parts; the