Background: Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD); its extragastrointestinal manifestations vary from one country to another. This study identifies the prevalence of the extragastrointestinal manifestations in a sample of Iraqi patients with ulcerative colitis and their relation to disease activity.
Patients and Methods: A descriptive study was conducted on 100 patients with established diagnosis of ulcerative colitis, who attended Baghdad Teaching hospital and Gastroenterology center in Baghdad during the period from May 2009 to January 2010. A direct interview and thorough clinical examination were done to determine the history of the disease, its severity and the presence or

Evaluation of Anti-Helicobacter pylori Antibodies in A group of Iraqi Patients with Atherosclerosis and Coronary Artery Disease

Background: While warfarin and direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are used to manage thromboembolic events, they possess several features that impact adherence. Objective: To assess medication adherence and self-efficacy in patients receiving warfarin or DOAC treatment. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed at Ibn Al-Bitar Hospital in Baghdad from December 2022 to May 2023 on patients receiving either warfarin or DOACs. The Arabic version of the Adherence to Refills and Medications Scale (ARMS) questionnaire and the Self-Efficacy for Managing Chronic Disease 6-Item Scale (SES6C) questionnaire were used to assess adherence and self-efficacy. Results: 181 patients were enrolled in the study, of whom 56.9% received warfarin an

Leukemia is the most common cancer in children which causes death despite the high survival rate. Therefore,  new methods are required to find a suitable therapy. A small RNA called microRNAs (miRNAs) is used as a biomarker for cancer diagnosis and early prognostic evaluation. Expression levels of three miRNAs from the 3' arm (miR-142-3p, miR-223-3p and miR-146-3p) were detected in serum samples from 30 acute leukemic children and from 30 healthy individuals by using qPCR. The miR-142-3p and miR-146-3p profiles were significantly downregulated (P=0.0010 and 0.0012, respectively), while miR-223 was found to be significantly upregulated (P= 0.0044) in the pateints. Serum level of C/EBP-β

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the chronic inflammatory autoimmune diseases which occurs as a result of unknown reasons. This study was conducted at Baghdad Teaching Hospital/City of Medicine, where blood samples were taken from 60 Iraqi patients with RA (49 females and 11 males) and these patients were matched by age and sex with 20 healthy controls (16 females and 4 males). Patients with RA were diagnosed by a consultant rheumatologist according to ACR / EULAR criteria in 2010. In this study the patients were divided into four groups as follows; the first group consisted of 12 patients treated with methotrexate (MTX), the second group consisted of 10 patients treated with etanercept, the third group consisted of 18 patients treate

The non-specific response of immunity has developed as the initial barrier for human protection from invading pathogens, which comprises certain pathogen recognition receptors (PRR) for instance toll-like receptors (TLRs). Toll like receptor 2 (TLR 2) is capable of recognizing pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMP) coded by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. To evaluate TLR 2 level in sera of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) patients. About 120 subjects, involving 80 patients with pulmonary TB including 40 multiple drug resistance (MDR), 20 recently diagnosed pulmonary TB (RD) and 20 recurrent TB patients named as old cases (OC), in addition to 40 apparently healthy individuals were studied as control group. Sera from 68 TB patients

Background: Hyperthyroidism is a serious public concern, due the continuous increase in its prevalence and its impact on the mortality rates. Autoimmune hyperthyroidism is seen as a thyroid gland problem. Pro-inflammatory cytokines are crucial for the growth and development of hyperthyroidism, it was shown that the level of several pro-inflammatory cytokines were higher in the hyperthyroidism patients. Objective: This work was aimed to assessment the concentration of certain cytokine in hyperthyroid patients. Materials and Methods: Sixty hyperthyroidism patients and 30 healthy individuals with age range from (30-65) years old were enrolled in this study through their presence at the National Center for Diabetes Treatment and Research in Bag

Diabetes mellitus, or simply diabetes, is a group of metabolic diseases in which a person has high blood sugar, either because the pancreas does not produce enough insulin, or because cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced. This high blood sugar produces the classical symptoms of polyuria (frequent urination), polydipsia (increased thirst), and polyphagia (increased hunger). The aim of the study is to measure several biochemical parameters in T2DM patients and the effect of these parameters in development the disease. Laboratory investigations including Ceruloplasmin , fasting blood glucose (FBG) , malondialdehyde (MDA), serum protein, uric acid, and protein electrophoresis have been measured in patients with type