Background: Lumbar disc degeneration (LDD) is a common musculoskeletal disorder that frequently causes low back pain (LBP). In addition to the discomfort of lower back pain, it can accompany pain in one or both legs. The lumbar spine and sacrum, consisting of five vertebrae and one bone, determine the spine's balance. Microelements are essential in bone metabolism and are associated with the prevention of osteoporosis and the alleviation of musculoskeletal pain. Objectives: To examine the correlation between lumbar spinal surgery and the concentrations of microelements, namely zinc and copper. Methods: A case-control study was conducted in Ghazi Al-Hariri Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, during the period from October 2023 to January 2024. The study included 120 participants ranging in age from 18 to 70 years. Sixty participants underwent lumbar spine surgery and were diagnosed using X-rays or MRI scans. The other 60 were healthy controls. The zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu) levels in the blood were determined using an atomic absorption spectrometer. The body mass index (BMI) was determined using the formula: BMIg/m2 = weight/height2. Results: The patients had a lower mean zinc level (57.3 ± 14.56 Mmol/L) and a higher mean copper level (106.6 ± 39.41 Mmol/L) in comparison to healthy controls (96.4 ± 17.38 Mmol/L) and (61.0 ± 9.53 Mmol/L), respectively There was a weak relationship and a significant correlation between copper and zinc (r = -0.2). A very strong relationship and a significant correlation between copper and Cu / Zn ratio (r = 0.85) while zinc had a significant very strong correlation relationship with Cu / Zn ratio (r = -0.7) in patients. Conclusion: The present study underscores the noteworthy association between microelements (Cu, Zn) and degenerative lumbar discs, underscoring the significance of pre-operative evaluation in achieving the best possible surgical results. The study has demonstrated the utility of measuring serum zinc level and copper level, especially their link with lumbar disc degeneration (LDD) markers of patients undergoing lumbar spinal surgery.
Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C viruses are the major health problem in the worldwide. In the Middle East, the prevalence of HBV in general population with the chronic infectionsis 2-5%,whereas the prevalence of HCV is about 1% in Arabian Gulf countries. World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that the risks of HBV and HCV transmissionas well as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) through the transfusion of contaminated blood and blood products is high, because of the fragility of health services in these countries. Several viral diseases are transportby different modes like bloodtransfusion, sexual contact, and unsafe injections. The mostcommon blood-transmitted viruses are hepatitis B virus(HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and humanimmunodeficie
... Show MoreMultiple myeloma is hematological disease produces many complications in the bone, kidney, neural and other complications. The study aims to measure serum biomolecules like fetuin-A and resistin and determined the possibility to use these biomarkers as disease predictor. blood samples were isolated from 58 patients and 24 sex and age-matched control, serum then isolated, and proper ELISA kit then used to a determined level of B2 microglobulin, resistin, and fetuin-A. The result demonstrated significant increase in B2 microglobulin, fetuin-A and resistin in patients compare to control (1.3470.714 vs. 0.9130.253), p = 0.000, (14.00310.352 vs. 9.2594.264), p= 0.005, (1.9673.595 vs. 0.6040.622), p = 0.009, respectively. &
... Show MoreDiabetic nephropathy is characterized by persistent microalbuminuria and metabolic changes that decline renal functions. Researchers have been prompted to explore new biomarkers such as KIM-1 and nephrin that may enhance the identification of disease. Objective: To Evaluate biomarker levels of kidney injury molculre-1 (KIM-1) concentration and nephrin as early and sensitive markers of nephropathy in type 2 diabetic patients. Method: One hundred T2DM patients were included in a cross-sectional study at the specialized center for endocrinology and diabetes, Baghdad. The first group includes 50 diabetic nephropathy (DN) patients, and the second group includes 50 T2DM patients without DN. Biochemical and clinical parameters were reported for pa
... Show MoreBackground: Acromegaly is an uncommon, chronic, debilitating condition characterized by hyperinsulinism, insulin resistance, diabetes and prediabetes. One possibility for managing acromegaly's questionable influence on glucose homeostasis is the somatostatin analogues. Aim: To analyze the frequency and risk factors for impaired glucose homeostasis in acromegaly patients treated with depot long-acting octreotide (octreotide LAR), as well as the relationship between risk and treatment duration. Methods: The study included 52 Iraqi adults with acromegaly receiving octreotide LAR. Demographic, anthropometric, and clinical data were collected, as well as the duration of Octreotide LAR administration. Growth hormone, IGF-1, and adenoma si
... Show MoreBackground: The COVID-19 infection is a more recent pandemic disease all over the world and studying the pulmonary findings on survivors of this disease has lately commenced.
Objective: We aimed to estimate the cumulative percentage of whole radiological resolution after 3 months from recovery and to define the residual chest CT findings and exploring the relevant affecting factors.
Subjects and Methods: Patients who had been previously diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia confirmed by RT-PCR test and had radiological evidence of pulmonary involvement by Chest CT during the acute illness were included in the present study. The radiol
... Show MoreMachine Learning (ML) algorithms are increasingly being utilized in the medical field to manage and diagnose diseases, leading to improved patient treatment and disease management. Several recent studies have found that Covid-19 patients have a higher incidence of blood clots, and understanding the pathological pathways that lead to blood clot formation (thrombogenesis) is critical. Current methods of reporting thrombogenesis-related fluid dynamic metrics for patient-specific anatomies are based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis, which can take weeks to months for a single patient. In this paper, we propose a ML-based method for rapid thrombogenesis prediction in the carotid artery of Covid-19 patients. Our proposed system aims
... Show MoreThis study aimed to isolate and phenotype lymphocytes in untreated children patients with chronic allergic asthma. To reach such aim the study involved (25) patients from children (17 male and 9 female) whom their ages where between (3-10) years, in addition to (15) apparently healthy children (9 male and 6 female) in the same ages involved as control group. The data demonstrated that there was a significant increase in the mean percentages of T-lymphocytes (CD3+ cells) in the peripheral blood of patients (66.75±0.29)**, in comparison with control group (43.58±0.19), a significant increase in the mean percentages of T-helper lymphocytes (CD4+ cells) in the pe
... Show MoreThis study was conducted to investigate thyroid function and Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) in (Chronic kidney disease) CKD patients by evaluating their levels in CKD patients, 50 patients were diagnosed to have CKD stage-5, their ages ranged between 20-50 years (25 males and 25 females) who attended the Nephrology and Transplant Center in Medical City of Baghdad- Iraq, they were recruited from April 2018 to July 2018 and were enrolled into the study. The control group consisted of 20 healthy individuals, their ages ranged between 20-48 years (10 males and 10 females). The study showed non-significant (p>0.05) increase in AMH level in CKD patients compared to the control group. On the other hand, TSH was recorded a highly significant (
... Show MoreThe Specific activity of extracellular superoxide dismutase (EC-SOD) was measured in healthy persons and in patients with benign and malignant brain tumors. The results show decrease of the EC-SOD specific activity in sera of patients with benign and malignant brain tumors in comparison to that of control group.This study concentrated on studying the changes that occur in sera EC-SOD activity of patients with benign and malignant brain tumors, in comparison to that of normal individuals. The result also revealed that this isoenzyme is present in many different molecular weights forms (as judged by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis), some of these with no enzymatic activity. Conversion among these forms occurs in the malignant sera