During infection, T. gondii disseminates by the circulatory system and establishes chronic infection in several organs. Almost third of humans, immunosuppressed individuals such as HIV/AIDS patients, cancer patients, and organ transplant recipients are exposed to toxoplasmosis. Therefore, the study aimed to investigate the possibility that Toxoplasma infection could be a risk factor for COVID-19 patients and its possible correlation with C-reactive protein and ferritin. Overall 220 patients referred to the Al Furat General Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq were enrolled from 2020–2021. All serum samples were tested for T. gondii immunoglobulins (IgG and IgM) antibodies, C-reactive protein and ferritin levels. In patients with COVID-19, the results revealed a high positivity percentage for anti-Toxoplasma IgG. In COVID-19 patients infected with T. gondii, the C-reactive protein and ferritin levels were higher than the controls. The ferritin level was high in COVID-19 patients infected with toxoplasmosis compare with COVID-19 patient without toxoplasmosis in different gender and age while the level of CRP had no significant differences in COVID-19 patient with or without toxoplasmosis. These finding suggest that the incidental rate of toxoplasmosis could be considered as an indication to the high risk of COVID-19.
Worldwide, hundreds of millions of people have been infected with COVID-19 since December 2019; however, about 20% or less developed severe symptoms. The main aim of the current study was to assess the relationship between the severity of Covid-19 and different clinical and laboratory parameters. A total number of 466 Arabs have willingly joined this prospective cohort. Out of the total number, 297 subjects (63.7%) had negative COVID-19 tests, and thus, they were recruited as controls, while 169 subjects (36.3%) who tested positive for COVID-19 were enrolled as cases. Out of the total number of COVID-19 patients, 127 (75.15%) presented with mild symptoms, and 42 (24.85%) had severe symptoms. The age range for the partic
... Show MoreCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a systemic disease with a substantial impact on the hematopoietic system and hemostasis. Neutrophilia is an early indicator of SARS-CoV-2 infection, while lymphopenia acts as a biomarker of the severity of infection, and the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is the main indicator of cytokine storms. Thus, this study aimed to provide local data about hematological parameters among COVID-19 patients and estimate their correlation with viral load and other factors in severe cases. A total of 99 nasopharyngeal swabs and whole blood specimens were collected from individuals suspected with COVID-19 between October and December 2020. Samples were tested by real time reverse transcript
... Show MoreBackground: Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) is one of the most common oral mucosal disorders with a prevalence of 50-66%. The prevalence of hematinic deficiencies including ferritin and vitamin B12 deficiencies and their role in the prophylaxis and development of RAS is not well known. Many studies have demonstrated a high prevalence of hematinic deficiencies in patients with RAS. This study aimed to compare the serum level of ferritin and vitamin B12 in patients with recurrent aphthous ulcers and healthy controls. Subjects, Materials and Methods: The data were collected from patients who needed blood analysis to exclude anemia from November 2020 to May 2021. The study was approved by the institutional ethics committee. After recordi
... Show MoreThis study included 46 patients with liver hydatid cyst diagnosed clinically and surgically, control group consist of 22 were naïve from infection had been confirmed by specialist. The patients were divided according to the size of the cysts into more and less than 5 cm diameter size, were 33 and 13 respectively. Also it divided into primary and secondary hydatid cyst infection which were 30 and 16 respectively. The role of immunological response against hydatid cyst parasite, showed a significant increased in humoral immunoglobulins (IgG, IgA, IgM and IgE) which were significantly higher in the hydatid cyst infection than control. Also significant increased in immunoglobulins in secondary infection than primary infection, beside significa
... Show More4 Blood Res 2018;53:314-319. Received on August 11, 2018 Revised on August 30, 2018 Accepted on August 30, 2018 Background Iron overload is a risk factor affecting all patients with thalassemia intermedia (TI). We aimed to determine whether there is a relationship of serum ferritin (SF) and alanine ami- notransferase (ALT) with liver iron concentration (LIC) determined by R2 magnetic reso- nance imaging (R2-MRI), to estimate the most relevant degree of iron overload and best time to chelate in patients with TI. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 119 patients with TI (mean age years) were randomly se- lected and compared with 120 patients who had a diagnosis of thalassemia major (TM). Correlations of LIC, as determined by R2-MRI, with SF
... Show MoreBlood samples of One hundred and twenty patients from different hospitals in Baghdad infected with hydatidosis in different sites of the body (Liver, Lung, multiorgans and kidney) were collected for this study. On the other hand, 30 healthy individuals were included as a control group. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of this disease on the serum protein profile of the patients using electrophoresis. The results revealed four different protein banding patterns with difference in number of bands and their molecular weights in comparison to the control group, and these differences depended on the site of infection. However the data showed a presence of the same band in all patients with different site of infection.
Background: several new inflammatory markers have emerged as strong predictors of cardiovascular disease in healthy and non-healthy subjects, one of these markers is hs-CRP, which has been proposed as independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and it is positively associated with body weight. Little is known, however, about the utility of hs-CRP and other biomarkers in obese hypertensive Iraqi post menopausal women.The aim of study is to examine the hypothesis that there is a relation between obesity, hypertension and a chronic low-grade inflammatory status (represented by high hs-CRP).
Patients and Methods: A total number of 99 postmenopausal women classified into obese hypertensive group (
Since its discovery in December 2019, corona virus was outbreak worldwide with very rapid rate, so it described by WHO as pandemic. It associated with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome, and can enter to cells through Angiotensin Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE 2) receptor which play an important role as regulator for blood pressure. Hypertension is a potential risk factor for sever acute respiratory syndrome COVID-19, and associated with high mortality rate as shown in many epidemiological studies. Moreover, specific antihypertensive medications that infected patients were receiving are not known; only data about renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) are available.
Background:SARS-CoV-2 infection has caused a global pandemic that continues to negatively impact human health. A large group of microbial domains including bacteria co-evolved and interacted in complex molecular pathogenesis along with SARS-CoV-2. Evidence suggests that periodontal disease bacteria are involved in COVID-19, and are associated with chronic inflammatory systemic diseases. This study was performed to investigate the association between bacterial loads of Porphyromonas gingivalis and pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Fifty patients with confirmed COVID-19 by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, their age ranges between 20-76 years, and 35 healthy volunteers (matched accordingly with age and sex to th
... Show MoreBackground: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic disorder that constitutes a major health problem worldwide. Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular parasite that may infect any nucleated cell. Toxoplasmosis is becoming a worldwide health threat, infecting 30–50% of the world’s human population. The studies that have been undertaken to investigate the link between T. gondii infection and diabetes have shown contradictory fi ndings. This research aimed to look at the possible link between T2DM and T. gondii infection. Methods and Subjects: The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) approach was used to screen for T. gondii IgM and IgG antibodies in 69 patients with T2DM and 92 seemingly healthy persons as controls. Resul
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