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.
Placenta previa refers to placenta which is totally or partly implanted in lower segment of the uterus. Mortality and morbidity of mother increase with placenta previa due to the increase in the incidence of bleeding during pregnancy. This study aims to define placenta previa prevalence among pregnant women at AL-Fallujah teaching hospital and to determine the risk factors and their association with placenta previa incidence in al-Fallujah city population. This retrospective cohort study investigated medical registry of 6339 gravid women in al-Fallujah teaching Hospital in Iraq. We find 13 cases of placenta previa (0.21%) amongst the 6339 cases registered. The risk factors that strongly appeared to affect the complication of pregnancy with
... Show MoreInnovative various Schiff bases and their Co(II), Ni(II) and Cu(II) and Hg(II) compounds made by the condensation of 4-amino antipyrine with derived aminobenzoic acid (2-aminobenzoic acid, 3-aminobenzoic acid, and 4-aminobenzoic acid ) have been prepared by conventional approaches. These complexes were described by magnetic sensibility analysis, FT-IR spectra, and molar-conductance and elemental analysis. Analytical values appeared which the mixed-ligand complexes presented ratio about 2:1 (ligand: metal) with the chelation 4 or 6. The prepared compounds offered a good effect on the organisms; bacteria Staphylococcus-aurous, Escherichia-coli and fungi C. albicans, A. niger. Also, the biological products signalize which the mixed compl
... Show MoreIt included the introduction to the research and its importance, as the knee joint is one of the important joints in the human body that are susceptible to injury, and among these injuries is the roughness of the knee that occurs as a result of weakness and imbalance in the work of the quadriceps muscle, so its treatment is through rehabilitation exercises to treat weakness and gain flexibility and strength.Hence the importance of the research by developing rehabilitation exercises with different resistances in the water medium and restoring flexibility and muscular strength for patients with knee roughness for ages from 30-40 years, and the experimental method was used to solve the research problem, and the research sample included (6) of
... Show MoreIt is often needed in demographic research to modern statistical tools are flexible and convenient to keep up with the type of data available in Iraq in terms of the passage of the country far from periods of war and economic sanctions and instability of the security for a period of time . So, This research aims to propose the use of style nonparametric splines as a substitute for some of the compounds of analysis within the model Lee-Carter your appreciation rate for fertility detailed variable response in Iraq than the period (1977 - 2011) , and then predict for the period (2012-2031). This goal was achieved using a style nonparametric decomposition of singular value vehicles using the main deltoid , and then estimate the effect of time-s
... Show MoreBackground: Neonatal septicemia (NNS) is the most serious complication in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) that demand urgent diagnosis and accurate treatment.
Methods: Serum was obtained from 31 neonates aged 1 hour-28 days that were diagnosed clinically and bacteriologically to have neonatal septicemia.
Results: Mean serum levels of both IL-8 and IL-1 recorded a significant increase in neonatal septicemia cases.
Conclusion: Usage of IL-8, IL-1 as diagnostic marker for NNS reduces unnecessary antibiotic therapy and therefore unnecessary costs, pain, and possible side effects of antibiotic
therapy and it may help to reduce development and spread of drug resistant bacteria.
This study was achieved to investigate the accumulation of some heavy metals included: Cadmium, Lead and Nickel in the tissues (gill, intestine, liver, muscles and skin) of Silurus triostegus Heckel, 1843 (Siluriformes, Siluridae) and its larval stage of the nematode Contracaecum sp. (Rhabditida, Anisakidae). As well as to assess the infection patterns of Contracaecum among S. triostegus specimens which were purchased fresh from the local market in Baghdad. One hundred and nine nematodes specimens in larval stage were recovered from the fish host; the overall prevalence of Contracaecum sp. was 38.6%. The sex of the host was not significantly (P ˃ 0.05) associated with the infection of this nematode. Results showed that the ov
... Show More2D Electrical Resistivity has been applied at three selecting areas within the study area using Dipole-dipole and Wenner arrays with an a-spacing of 1 m, and the profile length was 120 m for both. The total data points were 4455 reads for Dipole-dipole, and the total data points for Wenner were 2340 reads, and the depth of each array was 15.4 m and 20.2 m, respectively. The 2D inverse results indicate the resistivity anomalies approximately at depth (2 - 7.8) m formed as a weakness zone lies within the quaternary and Injana Formation deposits and interbedded with secondary gypsum and gypcretes. Additionally, the inverse resistivity distribution model demonstrated that the area is impacted by groundwater that is interaction wit
... Show MoreAbstract:
The issues related to foreign trade is a broad field for discussions and captures the interest of economists for their contribution to the process of economic development in the economies of the countries, especially developing ones. The imports of goods and services in foreign trade constitute an important part of the local by which the economy gets goods and services that the economy cannot produce because of the incompetent base of production. Further, the demand function of imports occupied a good deal of the attention of researchers in the field of international economics for which agricultural imports constitute an important part. The reason for the interest in the subject is due to its im
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