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: Nebulized Salbutamol have great advantages for patients with respiratory problems by depositing drugs directly to the lungs, inspite of reported adverse metabolic effects on different electrolytes and glucose heamostasis of patients.AIM OF STUDY: To evaluate the effect of nebulized salbutamol used in the management of patients with asthma who have normal serum potassium and blood glucose levels. in the emergency department after 30 and 60 minutes of administration and to find out if these results are of clinical importance that should be taken in consideration when treating patients especially those with abnormal glucose hemostasis or electrolyte disturbance. PATIENTS & METHODS: The study is a prospective follow
... Show MoreThe aim of this study is to utilize the behavior of a mathematical model consisting of three-species with Lotka Volterra functional response with incorporating of fear and hunting cooperation factors with both juvenile and adult predators. The existence of equilibrium points of the system was discussed the conditions with variables. The behavior of model referred by local stability in nearness of any an equilibrium point and the conditions for the method of approximating the solution has been studied locally. We define a suitable Lyapunov function that covers every element of the nonlinear system and illustrate that it works. The effect of the death factor was observed in some periods, leading to non-stability. To confirm the theore
... Show MoreThe present study was set to demonstrate the prevalence of toxoplasmosis infection and its effects on patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) through determining their serum levels of anti-dsDNA and IL-18 antibodies. For this purpose, the sera from 132 SLE and/or toxoplasmosis patients and 30 healthy women, were collected. The study sample was divided into four groups of SLE, toxoplasmosis, SLE coinfected with toxoplasmosis, and healthy control. Anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibodies were examined for all the samples using ELISA kit. The results showed a high mean level of anti-Toxoplasma IgG among SLE patients coinfected with toxoplasmosis (104.8792±12.31585pg/ml) in comparison to that in toxoplasmosis patients (91.1705±12.577
... Show MoreA study carried out in quail’s field owned by the Department of Animal production/ Collage of Agriculture / Tikrit University. For the period 14/ 5/ 2016 to 4/ 6/ 2016 in order to study the effect of adding Curcuma longa - to the diet of quails - on some productive and physiological characteristics of the Japanese quail birds bred for meat production. Using (48) quail birds which are two weeks old provided by Department of Agricultural Research. The birds were divided randomly after weighing them into three treatments; four replicate treatments for (4 bird/ replicate). The treatments as follows: (T1) control group (fed diet without any supplement), second (T2) and third (T3) groups were fed diet supplemental 4.5 and 9g Curcuma powder /
... Show MoreBackground: the activity of acute lymphoblastic leukemia had been observed to correlate with levels of serum lipoproteins
Objective: to evaluate the correlation of serum levels of different types of lipoproteins with activity of the disease in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Type of the study: A prospective study.
Methods: A study included patients diagnosed as acute lymphoblastic leukemia, their serum levels of lipoproteins at time of diagnosis, and on relapse were obtained for comparison.
Results: there is significant inverse correlation of activity of acute lymphoblastic leukemia with serum total cholesterol
... Show MoreBackground: The association between facial types and dental arches forms has considerable implications in orthodontic diagnosis and treatment planning. The aim was to establish the maxillary and mandibular dental arches width and length in skeletal and dental class II division 1 and class III malocclusion groups, find out the most frequent dental arch form and facial type and the association between them and to check the gender differences. Materials and Methods: Frontal and lateral facial photographs and maxillary and mandibular occlussal photographs for 90 iraqi subjects with age 18-25 years old (45 males and 45 females) divided equally into three groups, the 1st group with class II division 1malocclusion (overjet more than 3mm but less t
... Show MoreThe aim of the study is to identify the barriers to dietary compliance among diabetic patients.
Methodology: The sample of the study consist of 100 patients who were divided into two groups according to
the type of diabetes mellitus; type 1 (Insulin-dependent diabetic mellitus), and type n (Non-Insulin dependent
diabetes mellitus). Each group consists of 50 patient selected randomly at each visit to Al-Waffa center in Mosul
city during the period from (1-12-2005) to (1-2-2006).
The steps of the study include recording the different barriers for diabetic patients. The questionnaire
was used and special list was utilized for such purpose.
Results: The results shows that there were some barriers most common such as both
Active compounds were extracted from Anethum gravoelens to produce safety vegetable treat for diabetic, the results showed that alcoholic extract of Anethum gravoelens contain Alkaloid, glycosides, phenols, resins, saponins, coumarins, flavonoide, terpenes, steroids and volatile oils. after that it was studied the effect of alcoholic extract at dose 50, 100 mg/kg of body weight in reduced glucose level in serum of diabetic rats induced by alloxan, after the end of experiment for period 30 days the rats fasting 12 hours to measure the level of glucose in serum, the result showed asignificant decrease in serum glucose level of rats treated with extract in comparison with positive group (alloxan), So biochemical tests showed significant dec
... Show MoreBackground : Diabetes mellitus, also known as blood sugar, is a series of metabolic disorders described by high blood glucose levels (hyperglycemia), low blood glucose (hypoglycemia), or both, resulting from defects in insulin production, insulin action, or both. Numerous studies have shown that interleukin (IL-6) acts on skeletal muscle cells , liver cells, and pancreas cells to influence glucose balance and metabolism, which directly or indirectly contributes to the development of diabetes. Research in this area is crucial because diabetes is recognized as a major risk factor for many diseases like Diabetic retinopathy, Diabetic nephropathy, Diabetic Neuropathy , heart disease and others. Patients and methods : In this study, we
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