Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging zoonotic disease caused by the new respiratory virus SARS-CoV2. It has a tropism in the lung tissues where excess target receptors exist. Periostin plays a role in subepithelial fibrosis associated with bronchial asthma. Since the Coronavirus's target is the human respiratory system, Periostin has been recently described as a valuable new biomarker in the diagnosis and evaluation of disease in patients with COVID-19 lung involvement. Objectives: To assess the level of Periostin in the serum of COVID-19 patients and to correlate its role in disease severity and prognosis. Subjects and Methods: Periostin serum levels were measured for 63 patients attending three main COVID-19 Control Centers in Baghdad, compared to 25 healthy subjects, using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) from January 2021 to April 2022. Results: Serum levels of Periostin among studied groups with (mild - moderate, severe - critical, post-COVID, and controls) were (17.3, 664, 597, and 48) ng/dl respectively. The serum concentration of Periostin was highly significant in (severe- critical and post-COVID) than in other groups. Conclusions: The elevated level of serum Periostin in COVID-19 patients correlated with disease severity and post-COVID lung complications. The high Periostin level is consistent with high inflammatory markers, which might be used as an indicator of COVID-19 severity and predict a bad prognosis.
Background: The overproduction of thyroid hormones is known as hyperthyroidism. Increased susceptibility to caries and periodontal disease are two potential oral symptoms. The interleukin-6 (IL-6) was observed to significantly increased in the hyperthyroid group. According to multiple research, IL-6 dysregulation has been linked to a number of oral disorders, including periodontal diseases. The study aimed to evaluate periodontal health status in relation to IL6 among hyperthyroidism patients. Subjects and Methods: The sample was composed of 90 female patients aged 25-45 years attending endocrine disorder |
The typical test for diagnosis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 is a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique, but the chest CT scan might play a complementary role at the first detection of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia. Objectives: To determine the sensitivity of CT scan on patients with COVID-19 in Al-Najaf, Iraq, and to compare the accuracy of CT scan with that of RT-PCR technique. Material and Method: This is a prospective study. The patients suspicious of having COVID-19 infection and respiratory symptoms were registered. All patients were diagnosed by RT-PCR and chest CT. Diagnostic performance of CT was intended using RT-PCR as the reference sta
... Show MoreObjective: To assess the role of tumour necrosis factor alpha level and genotyping in susceptibility to leishmaniasis.Method: The case-control study was conducted from March to July 2021 at Baqubah Teaching Hospital, Diyala, Iraq,and comprised patients of cutaneous leishmaniasis in group A and healthy controls in group B. The serum level andsingle nucleotide polymorphisms of tumour necrosis factor-alpha rs41297589 and rs1800629 were compared betweenthe groups. Data was analysed using SPSS 28.Results: Of the 150 subjects, there were 75(50%) in group A; 39(52%) males and 36(48%) females with mean age23.91±13.14 years. The remaining 75(50%) subjects were in group B; 38(50.7%) males and 37(49.3%) females withmean age 22.84±4.35 years.
... Show MoreInflammatory bowel disease includes both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, is a chronic, progressive relapsing disease of gastrointestinal tract that require long-term treatment or maintenance therapy. Taking patient’s beliefs about the prescribed medication in consideration had been shown to be an important factor that affects compliance of the patient in whom having positive beliefs is a prerequisite for better compliance. The aim of the current study was to investigate and assess beliefs about medicines among a sample of Iraqi patients with inflammatory bowel disease and to determine possible association between these beliefs and some patient-specific factors.
This study is a cross-sectional study carried out o
... Show MoreBackground:Periodontal diseases are infectious diseases in which periodontalpathogens trigger chronic inflammatory and immune responses. Interleukine-6 is a multifunctional cytokine playing a central role in inflammation and tissue injury.The aim of the study IS to determine the level of Interleukin-6(IL-6) in saliva of patients with chronic periodontitis compared to healthy subjects. Materials and Methods:The total subjects of the present study is 60, divided into 3 groups; 20 patients with chronic periodontitis with pocket depth(PD ≥4 mm)(group I), 20 patients with pocket depth(PD <4 mm) with clinical attachment loss (group II), and 20 healthy controls with pocket probing depth (PPD ≤ 3 mm) without clinical attachment loss (g
... Show MoreThe covid-19 global pandemic has influenced the day-to-day lives of people across the world. One consequence of this has been significant distortion to the subjective speed at which people feel like time is passing. To date, temporal distortions during covid-19 have mainly been studied in Europe. The current study therefore sought to explore experiences of the passage of time in Iraq. An online questionnaire was used to explore the passage of time during the day, week and the 11 months since the first period of covid-19 restrictions were imposed in Iraq. The questionnaire also measured affective and demographic factors, and task-load. The results showed that distortions to the passage of time were widespread in Iraq. Participants co
... Show MoreThe research includes a clinical study of Preptin with other parameters. The normal value of preptin in hypothyroidism (2638.4±280.0) in female while (2960.4±256.6) in male, in hyperthyroidism (589.0±90.1) in male, while in female (993.2±103.9), diabetes (2465.6±282.4) in female, in male (2085.5±282.8), in diabetes & hypothyroidism (3314.3±177.3) in male,(3179.4±265.7) in female, but control group in female (427.8±60.4), in male (384.7±62.4) at age (20-45) years they were divided into five groups: group one (G1) consisted of 30 hypothyroidism. The two group (G2) consisted of 30 patients with hyperthyroidism. And three group (G3) consisted of 30 healthy group, four group (G4) consisted of 30 patient with diabetes, and five group (G
... Show MoreBackground: Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed malignancy and the second leading cause of mortality among women in Iraq forming 23% of cancer related deaths. The low survival from the disease is a direct consequence to the advanced stages at diagnoses. Aim: To document the composite stage of breast cancer among Iraqi patients at the time of diagnosis; correlating the observed findings with other clinical and pathological parameters at presentation. Patients and Methods: A retrospective study enrolling the clinical and pathological characteristics of 603 Iraqi female patients diagnosed with breast cancer. The composite stage of breast cancer was determined according to UICC TNM Classification System of Breast Cancer and the Ameri
... Show Moreprotein oxidation through oxidative stress, which represents the overall status of the protein in the cell/tissue. Due to their increased levels of AOPPs were reported during T2DM. The aim of this study was to assess AOPP level in T2DM subjects with foot ulcer (DFU) and explore its correlation with infection. Type 2 diabetic patients (n=108) and healthy subjects (n=25) were enrolled in this study. The T2DM group was subdivided to diabetic patients without complications (n=25) and eighty-three (83) of them have diabetic foot. They were sub- grouped into two groups according to presence Osteomyelitis and abscess, and in reliance on medical analysis of WBC count and CRP. Group of diabetic without superficial or deep ulcer and no osteomyelitis
... Show MoreThe current study aimed to isolate and diagnose the fungi associated with the inflammatory bowel disease patients with 150 samples distributed between 50 samples from Crohn's patients and 50 samples from ulcerative colitis patients, 50 control from Al-Kindy Al Teaching Hospital in Baghdad, Baghdad. Five types of yeast were isolated and identified, namely C. albicans, C.glabarta, Tropicales, C. parapsilosis, C. and C., krusi C. parapsilosis and.and Aspergillus, Penicillium, Muocer, Rhizopous, Saccharomycosis, and Cryptococcus, The results indicated the dominance of Candida spp. In crohn’s disease, the frequency of isolated Candida albicans was 24 (58.54%), Candida glabrata 11 (26.86%), Candida tropicalis 5 (12.2%) and Candida krusi was 1 (
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