Background: Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a common health problem that has a worldwide distribution. Apart from the direct effect of the virus on the liver, there are many extrahepatic manifestations among which the probable effect on bone turnover associated with low bone mineral density (BMD). Objectives: This study aimed to determine the association between treated and untreated chronic HBV infection with BMD. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study which included a total of 48 patients with chronic HBV (28 patients treated with tenofovir-disoproxil-fumarate [TDF] antiviral drug and 20 patients have not yet started treatment). Other age- and sex-matched 30 apparently healthy individuals were recruited to represent the healthy controls. BMD was measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry on the anteroposterior lumbar spine (L1–L4 spine) views, from which T-score was calculated. Liver function tests were also evaluated from serum samples. Results: Treated patients showed a lower T‑score (−0.48 ± 0.72) than either healthy individuals (1.08 ± 0.84) or untreated patients (0.78 ± 0.51), with highly significant differences. In multivariate regression, only disease duration (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 9.71, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 4.8–16.68) and TDF treatment (adjusted OR = 6.4, 95% CI = 4.18–97.05) were significantly associated with BMD. Conclusions: Prolonged use of TDF in the treatment of HBV infection can significantly reduce BMD. Moreover, BMD can also be inversely affected in long-standing HBV, regardless of treatment regimen.
Liposomal amphotericin B (Amph B) has been used effectively to treat leishmaniosis, in spite of its high toxicity appeared in some patients. In our study, Amph B was administered in Leishmania donovani that infected BALB/c male mice using different concentrations to evaluate its efficacy challenge against infection as well as its effect in modulating immunity of the host. We observed that low doses with short duration of Amph B as a therapy regime significantly enhanced the induction of Th1 cytokine (INF-γ), but suppressed Th2 cytokine (IL-10) production. Groups of mice infected with L. donovani and treated with Amph B showed clearly increasing in INF-γ level and reduction in IL-10 level in concentration (3, 4, 5 mg/ml/kg) with best resul
... Show MoreBackground: One way to target polypharmacy and inappropriate medication in hemodialysis (HD) patients is with medication deprescribing. Objective: To assess the impact of implementing a pharmacist-led deprescribing program on medication adherence among HD patients. Method: A prospective interventional, one-group pretest-posttest-only design study was conducted at a hemodialysis center in Wasit Governorate, Iraq. Medication reconciliation followed by medication review based on the deprescribing program was done for all eligible patients, and the patients were monitored for three months for any possible complications. Results: Two hundred and seventy patients were screened for eligibility. Only one hundred and eighteen were enrolled i
... Show MorePregnant women who have rubella may potentially pass the infection on to their unborn offspring. A congenital rubella infection can result in a miscarriage, stillbirth, and congenital rubella syndrome. The only member of the Togaviridae family’s Rubivirus genus, the Rubella virus (RV) is a positive-polarity, single-stranded RNA virus genome surrounded by a lipoprotein envelope with spike-like, hemagglutinin-containing surface projections.The objective: to determine the Rubella virus (1E genotype) in pregnant woman and its relation to spontaneous miscarriage.Materials and methods. A total of 174 women which visited Al-Elweya Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq, were screened according to the following criteria: women with a history of
... Show MoreThis study aimed to find out the impact of work-life balance on employee satisfaction in five-star hotels in Amman, Jordan based on a descriptive analytical approach. The questionnaire of the survey was designed and distributed to a sample of participants in order to collect the necessary data for this study and they were analyzed later through the SPSS V22 program. The study population was the hotel sector in Jordan, while the study sample included the five-star hotels in the capital, Amman, and the sampling unit included the employees of the middle and lower levels of management in the five-star hotels in Amman. The study showed a number of results, including the existence of a good level of work-life balance by employees in top manage-me
... Show MoreIn this paper we proposed the method of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) determination of some essential trace elements in medicinal herbs and vitamin-mineral complexes at the level of 100-101 mg/ml. To increase sensitivity and selectivity of the determination we simple and effective approach based on the extraction of metal ions from aqueous solutions with chemically modified polyurethane foam sorbents followed by direct XRF analysis. The conditions of sorption preconcentration of Co(II), Ni(II) and Zn(II) ions with modified sorbents were optimized. The proposed approach is used for the determination of trace elements in several kinds of medicinal herbs (coltsfoot leaves, nettle leaves and yarrow herb) and vitamin-mineral
... Show MoreBackground: The apical seal is the single most important factor in determining the success of surgical endodontics, the aim of this study was to compare the sealing ability of Mineral Trioxide Aggregate in three different cavity designs. Materials and Methods: Thirty extracted human single-rooted teeth were divided into three groups of ten teeth per group, a retrograde cavity preparation was carried out using a low speed handpiece and round bur with parallel walls in the first group, ultrasonic retrotip and unit in the second group and a low speed handpiece with a carbide inverted cone bur with undercuts in the third group, all the cavities were filled with MTA. microleakage was measured by dye penetration technique using methylene blue. Re
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