Background Osteoarthritis is a chronic degenerative disorder with rising prevalence. Early detection of structural damage is difficult. Consequently, there is a pressing demand for reliable biomarkers that enable an earlier diagnosis of osteoarthritis. The aim is to investigate the level of serum fibulin-3 in patients with primary knee osteoarthritis and its correlation with disease severity. Subjects and methods A case–control study was conducted at the Baqubah Teaching Hospital from November 2023 to January 2024. One hundred twenty persons participated in this study (eighty females with the diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis in its early and late stages, and forty age-matched, apparently healthy control. Serum fibulin-3, ESR, CRP, and cal

BACKGROUND: The primary cause of blindness in diabetics is diabetic retinopathy (DR), the most common microvascular complication of diabetes, and visual impairment. Visfatin is an adipocytokine that aids in insulin activity during gestational diabetes and pregnancy.

AIM: This study aimed to estimate serum visfatin levels in DR, proliferative (PDR), non-proliferative (NPDR), and healthy subjects (HS).

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 120-patient case-control study with a history of T2DM for more than 5 years as well as 30 healthy subjects enrolled in the study. Patients group divided into three sub-groups, DM, PDR, and NPDR. Visfatin levels w

Background: In the past, an association between Tuberculosis (TB) and Diabetes Mellitus (DM) was widely accepted, today the potential public health and clinical importance of this relationship seems to be largely ignored. The national clinical and policy guidance in the UK on the central of TB, for example, does not consider the relationship with DM.Objectives: To determine the risk of association between diabetes mellitus and pulmonary TB.Methods: A retrospective study conducted in Ibn Zuhr hospital for chest diseases from Jan 2008 – sep 2010 , included in the study 402 patients with TB divided into diabetic & non diabetic, 96 (23.8%) were diabetic while other 306 were TB not diabetic.Results: Risk of TB among DM patients were cle

Lead toxicity elicits neurological damage which is a well-known disorder that has been considered to be a major cause for multiple condition such as behavioral defect; mental retardation; and nerve insufficient activity.

This research is designed to estimate potential protective effect of vinpocetine on neurotoxicity stimulated by lead acetate in rats.

Eighteen adult rats of both sexes were randomly enrolled into three groups. Each group includes 6 rats as followings: Group I- Rats were given 0.3ml normal saline solution orally; then intraperitoneal injection of 100μl of the normal saline was given 1h later; this group was considered as control. Group II- Rats were given an intraperitoneal injection of 20mg/kg lead acetate

It was aimed to understand the interleukin-4 (IL-4) role in etio-pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Two approaches were adopted. In the first one, a quantitative expression of IL4 gene was assessed by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), and such findings were correlated with some demographic, clinical and laboratory parameters, which included gender, duration of disease, disease activity score (DAS-28), rheumatoid factors (RFs), C-reactive protein (CRP) and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (ACCP) antibodies. In the second approach, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of IL4 gene (rs2243250) was inspected by DNA sequencing using specific primers. Fifty-one Iraqi RA patients (22 males and 29 fem

Background: There is plenty of evidence
suggesting that involvement of several groups of
viruses in the development and / or acceleration of
Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM).
Objective: To analyze the T- cell proliferation in
the presence of Coxsackie virus B5 (CVB5), Polio
and Adenovirus antigens in addition to assessment
of Interferon- gamma (IFN-γ), Interleukins (IL-10
and IL-6).
Methods: In 60 Iraqi T1DM children with recent
onset of T1DM, Lymphocyte proliferation was
analyzed using Methylthiazol tetrazolium (MTT)
assay by culturing Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes
(PBLs) with Coxsackie Virus B5 (CVB5),
Adenovirus, and Polio vaccine. Serum Interferon-γ,
IL-10 and IL-6 were quantified by sandw

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

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of fibroblast growth factor-2 and Heparanase in salivary pleomorphic adenoma, and to correlate the two studied markers with each other and with clinicopathological parameters including: age, sex, tumor site and histopathological presentation. Methods: Sections of twenty five formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tissue blocks specimens of salivary pleomorphic adenoma were immunostained using monoclonal antibodies (Fibroblast growth factor-2 and Heparanase) to assess their expression in this tumor. Results: The expression of fibroblast growth factor-2 and Heparanase were positive in all pleomorphic adenoma cases (100%). The positive expression of fibroblast growth factor-2 was signi

COVID-19 is a unique viral infectious illness that causes a variety of symptoms and health hazards, particularly to the respiratory system and has been declared a worldwide pandemic. The disease is characterized by a cytokine release in severe conditions. Interleukin-6 (IL-6), a proinflammatory cytokine, mediates an important immunomodulatory process. Also, vitamin D was identified to have a role in the innate immunity of individuals. Our study was designed to find the role of IL-6 and vitamin D in COVID-19 patients, as well as, to see whether there is a link between vitamin D deficiency and cytokine syndrome development. The study included 90 COVID-19 patients and 30 control people from Baghdad, Iraq. The age of the participants was non-s