Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) antagonists’ therapy are expensive and has a non-responsive rate between 30% to 40% in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Genetic variation plays a vital role in the responsiveness to this type of therapy.The aim of this study is to investigate if the presence of genetic polymorphism in the TNF-α gene promoter region at locations -376 G/A (rs1800750), -806 C/T (rs4248158), and -1031 T/C (rs1799964) affects rheumatoid arthritis patient's tendency to be a non-responder to etanercept.
Eighty RA patients on etanercept (ETN) for at least six months were recruited from the Rheumatology Unit at Baghdad Teaching Hospital. Based on The European League Against Rheumatism response (EULAR) criteria, patient
... Show MoreThe role of transmembrane protease serine 2(TMPRSS2) in prostate carcinogenesis relies on overexpression of ETS transcription factors. The aim of this article was to investigate the association of TMPRSS2 polymorphism (rs12329760 (C\T)) with prostate cancer (PCa) in sample of Iraqi patients. One hundred and two individuals were involved in this study for the period from February – 2019 to February – 2020. The sample type was formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue samples (FFPE), which involved fifty-six samples of pre-diagnosed patients with prostate cancer, aged between 48 and 86 years, and forty-six samples were found to be controls (healthy group) dependent on Prostate Gland integrity, which is the same age as in a group o
... Show MoreThe objective review is to inspect the involvement of Interleukin-6 (IL-6) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to highlight the role of IL-6 and its variants in the pathogenesis of RA and response to anti-IL-6 agents. Several genetic and environmental risk factors and infectious agents contributed to the development of RA. Interleukin-6 is engaged in self-targeted immunity by modifying the equilibrium between T regulatory (T-reg) and T helper-17 (Th-17) cells. The evidences reported that IL-6 parti
BACKGROUND: The number of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) positive patients and fatalities keeps rising. It is important to recognize risk factors for severe outcomes. Evidence linking vitamin D deficiency and the severity of COVID-19 is tangential but substantial – relating to race, obesity, and institutionalization. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to examine the function of vitamin D and nutritional defense against infections such as COVID-19, which is the goal of this research. METHODS: This study includes observational cohort, cross-sectional, and case-control studies that estimated variances in serum levels of vitamin D among patients with mild or severe forms of COVID-19, and in patients who died or were discharged from hospit
... Show MoreBackground: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is inflammation of the sacroiliac joints and spine, associated with clinical symptoms such as pain and stiffness in the vertebral column, after which, in a considerable number of individuals, new bone growth occurs. Objective: The current research study attempted to find out whether the presence of SNPs in TNF receptor [TNFRSF1A (rs767455), TNFRSF1B (rs1061622)] encoding genes could influence patients' outcomes to etanercept in a specimen of Iraqi AS patients. Patients and methods: Sixty patients with established AS receiving only etanercept were selected to be enrolled in this research with a mean age of 40.75 ± 8.67 years, 51 patients of them were males and only 9 patients were females. Patients we
... Show MoreIntroduction: A Pap test can detect pre-cancerous and cancerous cells in the vagina and uterine cervix. Cervical cancer is the easiest gynecologic cancer to be prevented and diagnosed using regular screening tests and follow-up. This study aimed to estimate the cytological changes and the precancerous lesions using Pap smear test and visual inspection of the cervices of Iraqi women, and also to determine the possible relationship of this cancer with patients’ demographic characteristics. Methods: The study included 140 women aged (18-67) years old referred to the National Cancer Research Center (NCRC), Baghdad, Iraq, during the period 2011-2016. Both visual inspections of the uterine cervix and Papanicolaou smear screening were performed
... Show MoreThe pharmacokinetics and bioequivalence of a newly developed extended-released (ER) tablet containing 400 mg pentoxifylline as a test product was compared with the reference brand product Trental® 400 mg ER tablet produced by Sanofi-Aventis. Two separate studies were conducted simultaneously. The first study was conducted under fasting condition, whereas, the second study was conducted under fed condition; using the same batches of the test and reference products in both studies. In each study, both products were administered to 32 healthy male adult volunteers applying a single-dose, two-treatment, two-period, two-sequence, randomized crossover design with one-week washout period between dosing. Twenty two blood samples we
... Show MoreBackground: e cerebellum is divided into two hemispheres and contains a narrow midline zone called thevermis. A set of large folds are conventionally used to divide the overall structure into ten smaller "lobules". evermis receives fibres from the trunk and proximal portions of limbs, But the question is that does the cerebellum have the same measurementvalues in males and females of the same age?Material and method: e present study used 80 sectional brain MRI images (40: males, 40: females); 35-50 years old as indices of size for thevermian structures of the Cerebellum. is middle age group was taken because as known generally it could be neither an age of growth as inthe young nor of atrophy as in old individuals. e aim rega
... Show MoreCoronavirus: (COVID-19) is a recently discovered viral disease caused by a new strain of coronavirus.
The majority of patients with corona-virus infections will have a mild-moderate respiratory disease that recovers without special care. Most often, the elderly, and others with chronic medical conditions such as asthma, coronary disease, respiratory illness, and malignancy are seriously ill.
COVID-19 is spread mostly by salivary droplets or nasal secretions when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
COVID-19 causes severe acute respiratory illness (SARS-COV-2). The first incidence was recorded in Wuhan, China, in 2019. Since then it spreads leading to a pandemic.
... Show MoreCarpal tunnel syndrome is a neurological disease that presented with paresthesias, pain, and numbness in the hand's median nerve compression. Vitamin D was assumed to affect both electrophysiological &clinical gradings, the study aims to assess the correlation between the deficiency of vitamin D and both electrophysiological and clinical gradings. This study was conducted in Ghazi Alhariri Hospital during the period from the first of November/2020 to the twenty-eighth of February/2021, fifty five individuals were referred to as Carpal tunnel syndrome patients, and compared to (55) control individuals, blood samples were withdrawn from the patients (3ml), centrifuged and kept in the freezer (-20°C) until the time of analysis of
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