Background: Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer-related mortality worldwide, and its prevalence is increasing among many nations. Aim of the study: Investigate the predictive value of carbohydrate antigen 242 (CA242) in comparison to the CEA biomarker and to estimate the significance of CA242 as prognosis maker in colorectal cancer patients. Methods: a case-control study with a total of 150 individuals, 100 patients (59 males, 41 females) and 50 healthy controls (26 males, 24 females). using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent (ELISA) to determine the serum levels of CA242 and CEA. The study was carried out at the gastroenterology consultation clinic of the oncology teaching hospital between November 2020 and February 2021in Baghdad, Iraq. Result: Patients with colorectal cancer had significantly higher CA242 levels than healthy controls (p >0.001) with a significant positive correlation between CA242 and CEA (r = 0.866, p >0.001). The CA242 ROC curve study revealed an AUC of 0.933, a sensitivity of 89%, a specificity of 88%, and a cutoff value of 45 U/ml. CA242 can serve as a potential prognostic biomarker for colorectal cancer.
Toxoplasmosis is a widespread infection usually caused by Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) parasite. It occurs in humans and other warm blooded animals, causing severe problems. It was found that there is an alteration in the trace elements concentrations levels associated with some human diseases. This study aimed to investigate the changes in the concentrations of some trace elements (Mg, Fe , Zn, and Cu) in the sera of 60 immunocompetent patients with chronic toxoplasmosis and 82 healthy individuals as a control group. Measuring the serum level of seropositivity rate of anti-T. gondii antibodies was done by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) Kit, while the concentrations of trace elements were measured by absorption spectrophotometry
... Show MoreThe practice of self medication is continuously increasing worldwide due to its important roles in curing minor conditions or symptoms. This study was conducted to evaluate the factors associated with self medication practice of Iraqi respondents residing in Baghdad City. This study was designed as cross sectional study in which data was collected via direct interviews with respondents using a previously prepared questionnaire. This study investigated 348 respondents from different age groups. The majority of respondents were male aged between 30-60 years, married with secondary or academic level of education and employed with accepted monthly income. The main reason for practicing self medication was previous experience with the same condi
... Show MoreBackground Several studies have addressed the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii), among Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients in different countries, and the potential association between the infection and PD; the results of these studies were conflicting. The study aims to investigate the prevalence of Toxoplasma infection among sample of Iraqi PD patients. Also, to examine the potential association of age, PD duration, gender, smoking habit, zone of residence and family history of PD, with the prevalence of Toxoplasma infection in PD patients.
Patients and Methods Seventy-four PD patients attaining Dr. Saad Al-Witry Neuroscience Hospital in Baghdad/ Ir
... Show MoreBackground: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is one of the most common diagnoses in hospitalized patients. Increased plasma hemostatic markers were noted in acute myocardial infarction, indicating that the blood coagulation system is highly activated in those patients. Aims of the study: To study the level of intrinsic coagulation factors including (FVIII:C, FIX:C ,FXI:C ,FXII:C ) in patients with acute myocardial infarction. Type of the study: Cross –sectional study. Methods: Thirty patients (their age range is 48-68 years) were included in this study (9 female, 21 male) who were just admitted to the coronary care unit in AL-Yarmouk Teaching Hospital and diagnosed as having acute myocardial infarction patients, blood samples were tak
... Show MoreBackground: Multifactor affect the pathogenesis of thrombosis in solid malignancy; however, a significant role is attributed to the cancer cells ability to interact with and activate the host hemostatic system. [1]
Hemostasis is highly correlated to tumor growth, angiogenesis and metastasis, modulation of these pathways reflects interesting and promising treatment options in the future. [1]
Most patients with cancer frequently suffer from chronic compensated DIC and have abnormal laboratory coagulation tests without clinical manifestations of thrombosis, which is a subclinical hypercoagulable state that can be detected by varying degrees of activation of blood clotting. The results of laboratory tests in th
... Show MoreMedication safety is an important part of the comprehensive patient safety term. Medication safety is gaining more attention as the World Health Organization set the goal of decreasing medication harm by (50%) for the next 5 years when launching the third global challenge. Studying medication safety in the risk groups such as young ages, children are crucial to learn more about the effect of medicines in this risk group since they are not included in the clinical trials. Adverse drug reaction is defined as any harm resulted from the drug itself during medical process journey, while medication errors are any harm resulted from the treatment process rather than the drug or it is the result of the failure in a step of the treatment process
... Show MoreThe aim of this study is to find a relationship between oxidative stress and adiponectin in Iraqi patients with acromegaly. The present study included 30 patients with acromegaly disease attending at Al-Yarmuk teaching hospital , and 30 healthy individuals as a control group.The two groups with ages ranging (30-55) years. The results revealed a highly significant elevation in all parameters (GH,IGF-1 , adiponectin , malondialdehyde , and peroxynitrite ) levels in sera of patients when compared with healthy control .It can be concluded that oxidative stress (malondialdehyde and peroxynitrite ) may be valuable in detecting of endocrine diseases like acromegaly .
Background: Assessment of function of the right side of the heart in cases of left ventricular dysfunction has been widely studied but the sensitive and specific echocardiographic parameter to be tested is still a matter of controversy. Right ventricular function is related to left ventricular function by ventricular independence so function of both should be assessed carefully. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of left ventricular systolic dysfunction on right ventricular systolic and diastolic functions and pulmonary pressure using conventional and tissue Doppler echocardiography. Patients and Methods: Sixty patients (39 males and 21 females) with heart failure due to left ventricular systolic dysfunction
... Show MoreMany studies of the relationship between COVID-19 and different factors have been conducted since the beginning of the corona pandemic. The relationship between COVID-19 and different biomarkers including ABO blood groups, D-dimer, Ferritin and CRP, was examined. Six hundred (600) patients, were included in this trial among them, 324 (56%) females and the rest 276 (46%) were males. The frequencies of blood types A, B, AB, and O were 25.33, 38.00, 31.33, and 5.33%, respectively, in the case group. Association analysis between the ABO blood group and D-dimer, Ferritin and CRP of COVID-19 patients indicated that there was a statistically significant difference for Ferritin (P≤0.01), but no-significant differences for both D-dimer and CRP.
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