Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with polymorphic expression. B cells have an essential contribution in immune system activation via the production of different cytokines and functioning as potent antigen-presenting cells. Therefore, a drug that particularly targets B cells may represent an ideal therapeutic approach for SLE. Rituximab (RTX), an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody causing transient B-cell depletion, has been used to manage SLE. This study aims to assess Rituximab effects on lupus nephritis (LN) patients when added to conventional immunosuppressants. Twenty four patients, 15-32 years old, with class III/IV/V LN were involved in this study. All were on steroids before lupus nephritis occurrence. They were given rituximab induction therapy and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) maintenance therapy. RTX was indicated for refractory and relapsing SLE. Several investigations done before and after RTX treatment and in the last follow up (done one year after starting Rituximab). Those included protein in urine, serum creatinine, double stranded DNA, C3, C4, and Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR). Proteinuria decreased significantly after RTX treatment and in the last measurement (P=0.01 and P=0.001, respectively). Serum creatinine significantly decreased only in the last measurement (P=0.02). Double stranded DNA decreased remarkably after treatment (P=0.01) with a further decrease in the last measurement (P=0.006). C3 and C4 increased after treatment but the increase was significant only for C3 (P=0.002) and this increase continues till the last measurement (P=0.0006). Active urine sediments found in fifteen patients and disappeared after RTX treatment. Rituximab can be promising in treating lupus nephritis when used along with traditional immunosuppressants. It can reduce disease activity and improve renal function in such patients.
A dynamical system describes the consequence of the current state of an event or particle in future. The models expressed by functions in the dynamical systems are more often deterministic, but these functions might also be stochastic in some cases. The prediction of the system's behavior in future is studied with the analytical solution of the implicit relations (Differential, Difference equations) and simulations. A discrete-time first order system of equations with quadratic nonlinearity is considered for study in this work. Classical approach of stability analysis using Jury's condition is employed to analyze the system's stability. The chaotic nature of the dynamical system is illustrated by the bifurcation theory. The enhancement o
... Show MoreVitamin K is a fundamental enzymatic co-factor implicated in the carboxylation of several vitamin K dependent proteins involved in the pathogenesis of certain age – related diseases. Inflammation is realized as an important factor in such diseases. Vitamin K is recognized to play an anti-inflammatory behavior that is distinct of its action as an enzymatic co- factor by suppressing many signaling pathways mainly the nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) signal transduction pathway. As well as to play a role as an antioxidant versus the generation of reactive oxidative species (ROS). The purpose of this review is to focus on the protective function of vitamin K as an anti-inflammatory agent
... Show MoreABSTRACT
The controversy is currently revolving around industrial additives, including antioxidants, their negative effects on consumer health and the emergence of various and various diseases, which led scientists and researchers to intensify most studies on natural antioxidants and their synthesis from medicinal plants mentioned in ancient medicine and in divine books as potential antioxidants of increasing importance. Therefore, this study was designed to synthesize silver nitrate particles from plant leaf extracts (Figs, Olives, and Moringa) and study their effect on bacterial inhibition of each of the undesirable Coliform bacteria (E-Coli,
... Show MoreSomerset Maugham is known mainly as a novelist . This paper presents Maugham the dramatist . Many critics have found him a promising dramatist . He has written 30 plays , then he turns his back upon the theater and writes his autobiographical and most successful novel Of Human Bondage ( 1915) .
Maugham's writing is clear , precise , and simple . He is described as a realist who is keenly aware of human nature , its concentration and frustration . His only tragedy A Man of Honour is a play in 4 acts . This paper concentrates mainly on this play to show Maugham as a dramatist and to show his concept of " honour " .
&nb
... Show MoreThe main challenge is to protect the environment from future deterioration due to pollution and the lack of natural resources. Therefore, one of the most important things to pay attention to and get rid of its negative impact is solid waste. Solid waste is a double-edged sword according to the way it is dealt with, as neglecting it causes a serious environmental risk from water, air and soil pollution, while dealing with it in the right way makes it an important resource in preserving the environment. Accordingly, the proper management of solid waste and its reuse or recycling is the most important factor. Therefore, attention has been drawn to the use of solid waste in different ways, and the most common way is to use it as an alternative
... Show MoreOne of the most important intellectual issues, which receive attention is the issue of modernity, it has occupied the scholars of all time. However, modern poetry used to have special care in Iraq and in the Arab countries .. it is not strange that the concept of modernity is linked to history .. or having history as the most important dimension of its dimensions .. because Arab poetry is historical and it is moving into an area of the past that is still active in terms of language and literary image .. When some poets found that changing and modernizing poetry became a necessity of evolution, and one of the fundamentals of modernization, the cultural impact did not respond to the desire of poets, and their impulse in modern poetry
... Show More
After the defeat of the military terrorist organization "ISIS" and the fall of the throne of its alleged state in the Iraqi city of Nineveh, in Syrian Baghouz, and the end of its control over the land, the Syrian camps, especially "Al-Hol" camp, emerge as an incubator for the ideology of the terrorist organization "ISIS" and a vital base for its consolidation and dissemination, which includes (68,000- 73,000) people. During the years following the military defeat of (ISIS), the camp witnesses the spread of extremist ideas widely at the hands of its residents, including the families of the organizations dead's, extremist detainees, and those who deal with it, taking advantage of the deterioration of the environmental, se
... Show MoreBecause of its importance in the world, Middle East area is one of the competition areas between the major and great powers. Among those powers are Russia and United states of America. The competition between these two powers to control Syria is greatly clear since 2011. It is also one of the most important subject in the international politics. This importance comes from the importance of Russia and the United States of America besides importance of the Middle East. At the end of the cold war, United States of America maintained its role in the international system and became the only pole that dominated the international affairs while Russia tried to overcome the challenges inherited from the former Soviet Union, and it succeeded in th
... Show MoreA series of 4-(methylsulfonyl)aniline derivatives were synthesized in order to obtain new compounds as a potential anti-inflammatory agents with expected selectivity against COX-2 enzyme. In vivo acute anti-inflammatory activity of the final compounds 11–14 was evaluated in rat using an egg-white induced edema model of inflammation in a dose equivalent to 3 mg/Kg of diclofenac sodium. All tested compounds produced significant reduction of paw edema with respect to the effect of propylene glycol 50% v/v (control group). Moreover, the activity of compounds 11 and 14 was significantly higher than that of diclofenac sodium (at 3 mg/Kg) in the 120–300 minute time interval, while compound 12 expressed a comparable effect to that of di
... Show MoreThis work involved the co-substitution of the two bioactive ions of strontium and magnesium into the hydroxyapatite (HA) coating which was then electrochemically deposited on Ti-6Al-4V ELI dental alloy (Gr.23) before and after treatment by Micro Arc Oxidation (MAO). The deposited layers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The adhesion strength of the coating layer was estimated by using pull-off adhesion test. The adhesion strength of Sr/Mg-HA on the Ti-6Al-4V ELI dental alloy after MAO treatment was 1.79 MPa, which was higher than that before MAO treatment (1.62 MPa). The corrosion behavior of th
... Show More