Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a collection of chronic, recurrent inflammatory illnesses of the gastrointestinal system, including Crohn's disease (CD). Infliximab is one of the biological medications used to treat CD. Therapeutic drug monitoring has evolved as a treatment in IBD, aiming to optimize benefit while meeting more demanding, objective end criteria. Objective: To determine the achievement of target trough level (TL), develop anti-drug antibodies (ADAs) to infliximab, assess response to therapy, and study TL relations with different variables. Methods: The present study was cross-sectional and conducted from May 2022 to November 2022. It included 40 CD patients allotted into 2 groups: group 1 patients achieved the TL target, and group 2 patients did not achieve the TL target. Results: Twenty-two patients achieved target TL, while 18 patients did not. Dose escalation is recommended for 11 patients, switching therapy for 15 patients, and continuing the same dosage regimen for 14 patients. In addition, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, serum calprotectin and ADAs were significantly lower in patients who achieved target infliximab TL. Only serum calprotectin can be used to predict the achievement of the target TL of infliximab. Conclusions: Therapeutic drug monitoring of infliximab to determine the TL and ADAs can help to explain why some patients do not respond to this drug. Serum calprotectin may be used as a novel marker to predict the TL and response to infliximab.
Background: Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed malignancy and the second leading cause of mortality among women in Iraq forming 23% of cancer related deaths. The low survival from the disease is a direct consequence to the advanced stages at diagnoses. Aim: To document the composite stage of breast cancer among Iraqi patients at the time of diagnosis; correlating the observed findings with other clinical and pathological parameters at presentation. Patients and Methods: A retrospective study enrolling the clinical and pathological characteristics of 603 Iraqi female patients diagnosed with breast cancer. The composite stage of breast cancer was determined according to UICC TNM Classification System of Breast Cancer and the Ameri
... Show MoreBackground :Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) was a widely used marker for skeletal and hepatobiliary disorders, but its activity was also increased in atherosclerosis and peripheral vascular disease. Several study has showed that ALP activity was increased in the sera of diabetic patients. The current study was conducted to evaluate ALP activity in type 2 diabetic patients and optimum conditions for enzyme activity in their sera.Methods: This study was carried out at in AL-Yarmok hospital(diabetic center) between February /2009 and April /2009. Fifty two patients with type 2 diabetes have been enrolled. Besides BMI, WHR, serum fasting blood glucose, ALP, HbA1C,uric acid and lipid profile levels have been performed .The relationship bet
... Show MoreBackground: Oxidative stress is a deleterious process that can be an important mediator of damage to cell structures and consequently various disease states. Exposure to free radicals from a variety of sources has led organisms to produce a series of defense mechanisms. The antioxidant ceruloplasmin is a copper-containing ferroxidase that can oxidize ferrous iron (Fe2+) to its nontoxic ferric (Fe3+) form. Ferrous iron (Fe2+) is extremely damaging because of its ability to generate toxic free radicals. Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory oral mucosal disease of unknown etiology. Previous studies reported that reactive oxygen species may be involved in the pathogenesis of lichen planus. The aim of this study was to estimate the
... Show Moreackground An autoimmune and inflammatory illness called rheumatoid arthritis (RA) occurs when your immune system mistakenly attacks normal cells in your body. Interleukin-35 is a brand-new cytokine that belongs to the immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory IL-12 family. β -herpesvirus that produces inflammation and stays dormant in its host for life is the human cytomegalovirus. Human herpesvirus (HCMV) has been at the core of several RA-related theories. Objective The current study looked at the association between RA and serum IL-35 levels as well as the association between RA and CMV. Patients and methods Blood samples were taken in the Baghdad Teaching Hospital and Typical Rheumatology Unit from January 2022 to Mars 2022 for the curre
... Show MoreBackground: Cystatin C is recently considered to be a good predictor of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD)Objectives: Correlation between cystatin and ischemic heart disease.Methods :One hundred forty patients (140) with ischemic heart disease admitted to thin study at Baghdad teaching hospital from the period June. 2011 to Jan. 2012. Those patients was categorized into three groups.Group (A): patients with ischemic heart failure.Group (B): Patients with myocardial infarction.Group (C) patients with unstable angina.All these groups were in comparison to fifty (50) healthy controls. Fasting serum citation (C) were measured in all patients and control in addition to all other routine inves
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In 2020 one of the researchers in this paper, in his first research, tried to find out the Modified Weighted Pareto Distribution of Type I by using the Azzalini method for weighted distributions, which contain three parameters, two of them for scale while the third for shape.This research compared the distribution with two other distributions from the same family; the Standard Pareto Distribution of Type I and the Generalized Pareto Distribution by using the Maximum likelihood estimator which was derived by the researchers for Modified Weighted Pareto Distribution of Type I, then the Mont Carlo method was used–that is one of the simulation manners for generating random samples data in different sizes ( n= 10,30,50), and in di
... Show MoreAbnormalities in the Lipid and lipoprotein levels are common in the general population and are considered as very important risk- factors for cardiovascular disease .In this context the effect of cholesterol, which is one of the most clinically relevant lipids is very important. Aim of the present study was to determine the levels of GLP-1 and GPCR in non- diabetic dyslipidaemic patients and compare the results with the control group, which may be used as a novel biomarker to predict heart disease in these patients. The study was also aimed to find the relationship between GLP-1 and GPCR with lipid profile and glucagon in the patient group. The study involved 90 non-diabetic dyslipidaemia patients, with 90 healthy controls. The subjects wer
... Show MoreIn individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), the cannabinoid receptor 1 (CNR1) gene polymorphism has been linked to diabetic nephropathy (DN). Different renal disorders, including DN, have been found to alter cannabinoid (CB) receptor expression and activation. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the relationship between CNR1 rs1776966256 and rs1243008337 genetic variants and the risk of developing DN in Iraqi patients with T2DM. The study included 100 patients with T2DM, divided into two groups: 50 with DN and 50 without DN. Genotyping of CNR1 rs1776966256 and rs1243008337 polymorphisms was conducted using PCR in DN patients and control samples. The distribution of rs1776966256 and rs1243008337 genotypes and alleles bet
... Show MoreBackground: Treatment modalities of acromegaly and disease control impact differently on glucose homeostasis and lipid changes, and consequently on cardiometabolic risk. Aim: To investigate the possible association of lipid profile changes with the glycemic control status in acromegaly patients treated with octreotide LAR. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 52 Iraqi patients with acromegaly treated with octreotide LAR and not using statins. Demographic, anthropometric, and clinical data were collected, as well as the duration of Octreotide LAR administration. The glycemic state was assessed and classified as DM, prediabetes, or normal. Plasma levels of triglycerides, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and non-HDL were evalu
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