Schizophrenia (SZ) is severe mental disorder and characterized by fundamental disturbances in thinking, perception and emotions. Immune deregulation has been postulated to be one of the mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. This study hypothesized that interleukins would have a link with schizophrenia patients. The serum IL-2 and IL-10 levels were examined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in schizophrenia patients (n=60) and healthy controls (n = 30). The results showed that serum IL-2 and IL-10 levels were significantly different among schizophrenia patients. The observations indicate a significant decrease (P < 0.05) in schizophrenic patients serum levels of IL-2 compared with healthy control. Whereas

The negative impact of oral diseases on the function, economy, and general health of the population is well‐documented. In the last decades, evidence linking increased expression of depression and oral diseases/conditions has significantly increased. The aim of this study is to assess the association between oral disease/conditions and self‐reported symptoms of depression individuals.

Systemic lupus Erythematosus is an autoimmune disease of unknown aetiology affecting multiple organ system. Reactive nitrogen and oxygen species are claimed to play a role in this disease. However, the potential of Nitrosative/Oxidative Stress to elicit an autoimmune, response remain till now largely unexplored in humans. This study was done to investigate the status and contribution of nitrosative/oxidative stress in Iraqi patients for systemic lupus erythematosus. Blood samples from 19 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and 19 age-and sex- matched apparently healthy controls were evaluated for serum levels of nitrosative/oxidative stress markers including nitric oxide, peroxynitrite and malondialdehyde. Nitric oxide levels were

Background: Rituximab is a chimeric IgG1 kappa immunoglobulin that has been genetically modified to incorporate human constant region sequences together with murine light- and heavy-chain variable region sequences. People use it to treat rheumatoid arthritis and certain malignancies. Objective: The study aimed to assess the potential association between the serum levels of Factor I, CD59, interleukins (IL)-6, and interferon-gamma (IFN)-γ and the response to Rituximab treatment in Iraqi rheumatoid arthritis patients. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the rheumatology center at Baghdad Teaching Hospital. Ninety adult patients who have been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and are receiving  Rituximab intravenous i

This study aimed to evaluate serum levels of steroid hormones and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) hormone in preeclamptic Iraqi pregnancies compared to those of healthy pregnancies.This study enrolled 120 pregnant women, divided into four groups:1. 30 healthy pregnant women.2. 37 pregnant women with mild preeclampsia3. 53 pregnant women with severe preeclampsia4. 90 pregnant women with preeclampsia Preeclamptic women and their severe cases but not mild cases had significantly (P<0.01) increased levels of serum hCG as compared with healthy pregnancies. By contrast, sera levels of estradiol were significantly (P<0.01) decreased in total preeclamptic groups and their severe cases but not in mild group as compared to healthy pregnant wome

         Trace elements concentrations are frequently reported to be a good indicator for diagnosis and prognosis of some disease. The levels of copper, zinc, manganese, and magnesium were measured in serum of two group. Group one contains (52) newborn jaundice patients while the second group contains (20) healthy newborn used as controls.

          In this study the concentration of Cu, Zn, Mg, and Mn were measured using atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). It has been found that zinc level is significantly lower in newborn jaundice patients compared with normal subjects at (p<0.05) , also the level of Cu, Mg, and Mn were significantly

Background 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

Objectives: To assess the quality of life for adult patients with peptic ulcers in the city of Sulaimani.
Methodology: A descriptive study, using the assessment approach was conducted on patients with peptic ulcer
disease from January 12th, 2009 to September 30th, 2009. A purposive "non-probability" sample of (100) paƟents
(males and females) with peptic ulcers who attended Kurdistan Center for Gastroenterology and Hepatology were
selected for the study. A questionnaire was adapted from the World Health Organization quality of life questionnaire
(1998) for the purpose of the study. It is comprised of (3) parts that included sociodemographic characteristics form,
medical history form and adult peptic ulcers patients' qu

     Diabetes mellitus (DM) is the most common endocrine disorder and one of the highly progressive diseases which is indicated by high blood sugar (hyperglycemia). The present study aims to study the effects of treatment with zinc and vitamin C on glycemic profile [fasting blood sugar (FBS), glycated haemoglobin (HbA_1C), and insulin hormone level] in type 2 diabetic patients. The study included 56 diabetic patients [30 without foot ulcers (15 without zinc and vitamin C supplements, 15 with zinc and vitamin C supplements) and 26 with foot ulcers (15 without zinc and vitamin C supplements, 11 with zinc and vitamin C supplements)]. Also, 15 healthy persons were used as a control group. The patients were enrol

The current study aimed to isolate and diagnose the fungi associated with the inflammatory bowel disease patients with 150 samples distributed between 50 samples from Crohn's patients and 50 samples from ulcerative colitis patients, 50 control from Al-Kindy Al Teaching Hospital in Baghdad, Baghdad. Five types of yeast were isolated and identified, namely C. albicans, C.glabarta, Tropicales, C. parapsilosis, C. and C., krusi C. parapsilosis and.and Aspergillus, Penicillium, Muocer, Rhizopous, Saccharomycosis, and Cryptococcus, The results indicated the dominance of Candida spp. In crohn’s disease, the frequency of isolated Candida albicans was 24 (58.54%), Candida glabrata 11 (26.86%), Candida tropicalis 5 (12.2%) and Candida krusi was 1 (