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: ;Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major cause of chronic liver disease. Approximately 85% of patients acutely infected with HCV progress to chronic liver disease with persistence of HCV-RNA for more than 6 months Among patients with chronic HCV infection , 15-20% progress to end-stage liver disease main transmission methods of the virus is by : blood and blood products ; sharing needles and acupuncture .Objective: To evaluate Iraqi patients infected with chronic HCV, including their treatment, and factors that affect their response to treatment .Methods :This study was performed at Gastroenterology and Hepatology hospital in Baghdad from January 2011 to March 2012.The study enrolled 90 patients with HCV Antibody positive (Ab +ve)
... Show MoreAcute myeloid leukemia (AML) is heterogeneous disorders originated from the abnormalities in the proliferation and maturation of myeloid progenitors in bone morrow. There is a clinical correlation between immunity engines and disease progression, but this relationship is not completely clear yet. This study was designed to assess the full immune response in Iraqi patients diagnosed with AML. Patients and healthy volunteers were divided into three groups: newly diagnosed untreated, under chemotherapy treatment patients and control group. A significant reduction were seen in C4 and IFN-γ levels in both untreated and treated groups with no significant difference between untreated and treated groups. On the other hand, IL-2 and IL-8 levels inc
... Show MoreBladder dysfunction is one of the most common complications of diabetes, even exceeding nephropathy or peripheral neuropathy. Diabetic cystopathyaffects patients in both sexes, and its prevalence increases over time with diabetes; our concern is to evaluate the urodynamic findings of bladder dysfunction in diabetic patients.A cross sectional study conducted at Ghazi Al-Hariri Surgical specialized hospital during the period from the firsts of January 2018 to the end of Mar 2019, in which 118 diabetic patients (71 female and 47 male) with lower urinary tract symptoms were enrolled in the current study. The mean age (62±13) years old, 37.3% of patients presented with urgency as the main type of dysfunction. Diabetic cystopathy were fo
... Show MoreObjective: Knee osteoarthritis is a common disabling chronic disease globally. Many pharmacological agents have been used efficiently in treatment of knee osteoarthritis. This study aims to evaluate metformin and serratiopeptidase together in treatment and stop of osteoarthritis progression by different mechanisms. Methods: Present study was a randomized clinical trial study conducted in Al-Kindi teaching hospital through the period from 1st January to 30th of May, 2017 on two groups of 80 osteoarthritis patients (group I; treated with metformin 850 mg oral tablets) and (group II; treated with metformin 850 mg oral tablets and serratiopeptidase 20 mg oral tablets). Parameters of two groups were compared with those of 40 normal healt
... Show MoreObjective: To find out the relationship between the bio-social aspect with cholelithiasis patients and
demographic characteristics in Baghdad city.
Methodology: A purposive (non-probability) sample of (100) patients, from (20-70) years old, who were
selected from patients who were admitted to hospital at preoperative stage, from Gastroenterology and
Hepatology Hospital, Baghdad Teaching Hospital, Al-Yarmook Teaching Hospital, Al-Karama Teaching
Hospital, Teaching Hospital. A descriptive study was carried out from 25th of June 2004 to the end of October
2004.
An assessment form was constructed for the purpose of the study. Test-retest reliability was employed through
computation of Pearson correlation coefficient.
Bladder cancer is the ninth most common malignancy all over the world. Immune picture is important in predicting clinical outcome with bladder cancer, so the aim of the present study was to investigate the number of killer cells in the tissue of the patients with the malignant and benign bladder cancer before treatment by using an antigen retrieval immunohistochemical method on archived bladder tumors tissue. In our study, the number of the patients tissue with malignant cancer that staining by immunohistochemistry of NK cells (20%) was lower than in benign (80%) (p≤0.01). The results of the present study were indicated that the lower level of the NK cells in the malignant tissues may be leads to impaired anti-tumor immune response tow
... Show MoreSerum levels of iron,copper,ceruloplasmin and transferrine were estimated in three groups of patients with ?- thalassemia: 24 patients have splenectomy thalassemia major, 29 patients have non splenectomy thalassemia major and 19 patients have thalassemia intermedia , data were compared to normal and pathological controls (anemia and minor). There were significant increase in trace element levels in all studied groups of pateints as compared to normal and pathological controls. Also there were a significant increase in ceruloplasmin levels,While the result revealed that there were a significant decrease in transferrine levels in all groups of patients studied as compared to normal and pathological controls. The result also indicate that the
... Show MoreCutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is an endemic parasitic disease found in many provinces of Iraq. The immune system plays a crucial role in the development or healing of lesions through chemotactic cytokine activity. This study was aimed to detect the levels of two chemokine ligands (CCL2 and CCL5) in Iraqi patients suffering from dermal ulcers, caused by cutaneous leishmaniasis. It was measured in pre and post-treatment state of Pentostam (Pentavalent Antimony 100 mg). Blood serum concentrations of CCL2, CCL5 were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay among newly infected patients, two-trial treatment patients and three-trial treatment patients, in comparison with the control group. The result indicated a significant differ
... Show MoreBackground: Serum adiponectin is a hormone of adipose tissue that activateslipid metabolism and exertsphysiological functions. Its level usually fluctuates in several metabolic diseases,including renal insufficiency and diabetes; it loses its protective role against diseases and becomes a potentially risk factor for erythroid abnormalities.
Objectives: The study was designed to assess the association between adiponectin hormone, blood erythroid and various parameters in groups of patients.
Method:The study included 130 patientsand 42 healthy subjects. Parameters of serum adiponectin, erythropoietin (EPO), red blood cells (RBC), hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit (Hct), ren
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