Objectives: Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) is WNT/b-catenin pathway antagonist which plays a detrimental role in the development of diabetic retinopathy (DR). This research aimed to assess serum DKK-1 levels in diabetic patients who have and have not developed DR and, compare them with the control subjects finding out whether we can use it as an indicator for DR early diagnosis and to find out which one of the widely used two groups of antidiabetic treatments had the greater effect on this biomarker and hence on the progression of DR. Methods: The study participants were divided into two subgroups: First, 70 patients (36 male, 34 female) with type 2 diabetes mellitus, among them 35 patients diagnosed with DR and 35 with no evidence of DR, and secondly, non-diabetic controls (11 male, 9 female) were selected from the patients attending Ibn AL-Haitham hospital for ophthalmology and a specialized center for endocrinology and diabetes. Venous blood samples of all participants were drawn after an overnight fast, and serum samples were stored at -20ºC until DKK-1 assay. Results: Serum DKK-1 showed significantly lower levels in diabetic patients with (6.1 ± 2 ng/mL) or without DR (14 ± 6.2 ng/mL) when compared to those of controls (34 ± 12.25 ng/mL) (p 0.05). Furthermore, serum DKK-1 levels were lower in the late stage of DR compared to the early stage 5.6 ± 1.7 and 7 ± 1.9 ng/mL, respectively. Furthermore, DPP-4 inhibitors cause a better increment in DKK-1 levels when compared to SU in the NDR group. Conclusions: Reduced serum levels of DKK-1 are related to the existence and worsening of DR and have the prospect to serve as an indicator for this condition.
Background: Plaque retention during fixed orthodontic therapy is an important cause of developing enamel demineralization. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of different brackets types on the count of Streptococcus Mutans in orthodontic patients using conventional fluoridated toothpaste. Materials and Methods: Plaque samples were collected from maxillary 1st premolar teeth of twenty right handed patients (using split mouth technique) before bonding, after 48 hrs of bonding using tooth brush only, and after 2 weeks of using fluoridated toothpaste. Stainless steel bracket was bonded on right first premolar while the left one was bonded with sapphire bracket. The calculation of the Streptococcus Mutans count was done usin
... Show MoreThe corrosion inhibiting properties of the new furan derivative 5-(furan-2-ylmethylsulfonyl-4-phenyl-2,4- dihydro [1,2,4] triazole-3-thione in acidic solution (1.0 M HCl) were explored utilizing electrochemical, surface morphology (AFM), and quantum chemical calculations approaches. The novel furan derivative 5-(furan-2-ylmethylsulfonyl-4-phenyl-2,4- dihydro [1,2,4] triazole-3-thione shows with an inhibitory efficiency value of 99.4 percent at 150 ppm, carbon steel corrosion in acidic medium is effectively inhibited, according to the results. The influence of temperature on corrosion prevention was studied using adsorption parameters and activation thermodynamics. The novel furan derivative creates a protective layer over the metallic surfa
... Show MoreThe purpose of this subject is to identify what is being studied in the article, which is the involvement of human Metapneumovirus in children with respiratory illnesses. During the period November 2020 to February 2021, 100 patients with respiratory tract infections were admitted to Al Zahra Teaching Hospital and AL-Forat AL-Awsat Teaching Hospital in Najaf Governorate. Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from patients for molecular diagnosis of human metapneumovirus using Real-Time-PCR. The patients were distributed based on age into five groups as follows (Less than one, 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, and 4-5 years), and twenty samples of healthy individuals were approved as a control group without any clinical signs of infection. the children of age gr
... Show MoreToxoplasmosis is a parasitic infection that triggers immune cells to produce cytokines and inflammatory mediators that are responsible for abnormal or aborted immune responses. This study highlights the evaluation of the Dectin-1 receptor and cytokine IL-37 in the serum of 80 patients who had miscarried in the first trimester and were infected with toxoplasmosis, as well as 40 pregnant women in the first trimester who had a successful pregnancy (control groups). The serum was first screened for the T. gondii IgM and IgG antibodies by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and then the serum levels of IL-37 and Dectin-1 were determined. The results showed that the serum level of Dectin-1 was significantly increased in anti-
... Show MoreThere are many animal models for polycystic ovary (PCO); using exogenous testosterone enanthate is one of the methods of induction of these models. However, induction of insulin resistance should also be studied in the modeling technics. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the expression of insulin receptor substrate (Irs)-2 mRNA in the liver tissue of rat PCO model. Nineteen Wistar rats were divided into three groups; (1) PCO modeling group (N =7) received daily 1.0 mg/100g testosterone enanthate solved in olive oil along with free access dextrose water 5%, (2) vehicle group (N =6), which handled like the PCO group, but did not receive testosterone enanthate, (3) control group (N =6) with standard care. Al
... Show MoreThe subject of marketing culture and mental image is one of the important topics in the field of management. There is no study that combines these two variables. The research is important because of the increasing importance of the subject. The future direction of the company in question will support the company's economic and marketing responsibilities. And reflect the company's mental image, as a culture that contributes to changing the reality of the organization investigated by polling the views of a sample of managers in the General Company for Vegetable Oil Industry, which (30) out of the (65) individual, and There are two hypotheses of research: There is a significant
... Show MoreThe reaction oisolated and characterized by elemental analysis (C,H,N) , 1H-NMR, mass spectra and Fourier transform (Ft-IR). The reaction of the (L-AZD) with: [VO(II), Cr(III), Mn(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), Cd(II) and Hg(II)], has been investigated and was isolated as tri nuclear cluster and characterized by: Ft-IR, U. v- Visible, electrical conductivity, magnetic susceptibilities at 25 Co, atomic absorption and molar ratio. Spectroscopic evidence showed that the binding of metal ions were through azide and carbonyl moieties resulting in a six- coordinating metal ions in [Cr (III), Mn (II), Co (II) and Ni (II)]. The Vo (II), Cu (II), Zn (II), Cd (II) and Hg (II) were coordinated through azide group only forming square pyramidal
... Show MoreBackground: Imprelon® Biostar foils are new alternative tray material that has become increasingly popular because oftheir several advantages. Also, (Duran®) is another type of Biostar foils which is used in splint therapy. This study assessed some mechanical properties of these two types Biostar sheets in comparison with some types of acrylic resins used for construction of trays and splints. Materials and Methods: A total of 150 specimens were prepared, 30 specimens for each test, 10 for each group material in order to assess some mechanical properties of the Imprelon® Biostar foil (dimension stability, surface roughness and shear bond strength of Imprelon® materialto zinc oxide impression material) and compare them to that of the oth
... Show MoreThe study consisted in the development and use of a practical method to detect and
monitor, analyze and produce maps of changes in land use and land cover in the district of
Mahmudiya in Baghdad during the period 1990-2007 using the applications of remote sensing
techniques and with the assisstant of geographic information systems (GIS),as a valuable
contribution to land degradation studies.
This study is based maiuly on the processing on two subsets of landsat5 TM images picked up
in August 1990 and 2007 respectively in order to facilitate comparision and were thengeometrically and radiometrcally calibrated ,to used for digital classification purposes using
maximum liklihoods classification or six spectral bands of