Background: The genetic polymorphisms of vitamin D receptor (VDR) have an association with thalassemia development, additionally to the environmental elements that elicited the disorder in the genetically predisposed individuals. As well, VDR functions responsible for the regulation of bone metabolism, such its part in immunity. Aim: The sitting study intended to inspect the association between thalassemia disease and the genetic polymorphisms of VDR among the Iraqi population then compared these findings to other findings of thalassemia patients in other different ethnic populations. Materials and methods: The restriction enzymes Bsm-I and Fok-I were applied to determine the genetic polymorphisms frequencies of VDR by a Polymerase Chain Reaction – Random Fragment Length Polymorphisms (PCR-RFLP) techniques of the targeted parts (rs2228570 and rs1544410) in 70 Iraqi patients suffering from thalassemia (18 males and 52 females) and 75 Iraqi healthy participants as a control group (18 males and 52 females). Also, the comparison between the present findings of VDR genetic polymorphisms in Iraqi thalassemia patients and other previous findings for thalassemia patients in different ethnic populations for the selected VDR Bsm-I and Fok-I sites were done. Results: The present findings manifested a significant difference of VDR Bsm-I and Fok-I genetic polymorphisms frequency (rs2228570 and rs1544410) in the thalassemia patient's group contrasted to the healthy control group. In VDR rs2228570, the AA genotype and A allele frequency were significantly increased in the patients' group contrasted to the healthy control group (44.29 vs. 8.0%, OR: 9.14, 95% CI: 3.53–23.68, p: 4.1 × 10−7; 69.0 vs. 27.0%, OR: 6.02, 95% CI: 3.27–11.06, p: 3.9 × 10−9, respectively). while, the results of VDR genetic polymorphisms rs1544410 manifested that the CC and CT genotyping and C allele frequency were significantly increased among the patient's group contrasted to the healthy control group (28.75 vs. 6.67%, OR: 5.60, 95% CI: 1.98–15.81, p: 7.2 × 10−4; 57.14 vs. 24.0, OR: 4.22, 95% CI: 2.08–8.55, p: 8.1 × 10−5; and 57.0 vs. 19.0%, OR: 6.39, 95% CI: 3.0–10.66, p: 3.9 × 10−9, respectively). Also, it manifested the genetic polymorphisms variance of VDR rs2228570 and rs1544410 between the Iraqi thalassemia patients and other ethnic thalassemia patients. The results showed different variants among the Iraqi thalassemia patients' polymorphisms and other ethnic thalassemia patients' polymorphisms. Conclusions: The present results demonstrated a significant association between the genetic polymorphisms of VDR and thalassemia disease, the AA genotype and A allele frequency was significantly increased among the thalassemia patients' group compared to the controls in VDR Bsm-I polymorphism (rs2228570). While the CC and CT genotypes and C allele frequency were significantly increased among the thalassemia patients' group compared to the controls in VDR Fok-I polymorphism (rs1544410). As well, it indicates the variance of VDR Bsm-I and Fok-I genetic polymorphisms frequencies between the Iraqi thalassemia patients and other thalassemia patients from different ethnic populations.
Through this research, We have tried to evaluate the health programs and their effectiveness in improving the health situation through a study of the health institutions reality in Baghdad to identify the main reasons that affect the increase in maternal mortality by using two regression models, "Poisson's Regression Model" and "Hierarchical Poisson's Regression Model". And the study of that indicator (deaths) was through a comparison between the estimation methods of the used models. The "Maximum Likelihood" method was used to estimate the "Poisson's Regression Model"; whereas the "Full Maximum Likelihood" method were used for the "Hierarchical Poisson's Regression Model
... Show MoreThe root lesion nematode, Pratylenchus neglectus, is one of the most damaging nematodes to affect wheat worldwide. The nematode is widely distributed in Montana, primarily affecting winter wheat within the state. Managing the nematode primarily involves rotation to resistant and moderately resistant crops (peas, lentils, and barley). A nematode survey was conducted across the state nearly 10 years after an initial survey, to reassess the nematode threat and assess the impact of changing trends in crop rotations. To assess the broad applicability of rotation crops to control P. neglectus across Montana, greenhouse trials were conducted to challenge rotational crops using eight populations of P. neglectus collected from geographicall
... Show MoreAsthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of respiratory airways characterized by distinctive history of respiratory symptoms due to variable airflow obstruction which reverses either spontaneously or in response to certain medications. Acetylcholine is a parasympathetic neurotransmitter which plays fundamental roles in the development of persistent asthma. Treatment guidelines recommend using medium doses of inhaled corticosteroids in addition to another controller bronchodilator instead of using high doses inhaled steroid alone for treatment of moderate to severe persistent asthma. The inhaled long acting muscarinic antagonist, tiotropium, was approved recently to control unresponsive asthma to inhaled corticosteroid with or without a long
... Show MoreBackground: Breast Cancer is the most common malignancy among the Iraqi population; the majority of cases are still diagnosed at advanced stages with poor prospects of cure. Early detection through promoting public awareness is one of the promising tools in its control. Objectives: To evaluate the baseline needs for breast cancer awareness in Iraq through exploring level of knowledge, beliefs and behavior towards the disease and highlighting barriers to screening among a sample of Iraqi women complaining of breast cancer. Methodology: Two-hundred samples were enrolled in this study; gathered from the National
This study was conducted to determine the ability of water treatment system (Vortisand) to reduce some chemical and physical properties for tigris river raw water, It consisted of turbidity, electrical conductivity, pH, total hardness, calcium Hardness as well as temperature in order to determine the unit`s efficiency for reducing their concentration as compared to those in the water produced by some classical potable water projects (Dora and Wathba) in Baghdad. Samples were collected during the cold months (December 2016 and January 2017) and during the hot months (May and June 2017). The results showed that this system has the ability to reduce some properties such as turbidity, the values were 215NTU in raw water and decreased to NTU
... Show MoreThis research included clinical biochemical study of some important biochemical variations of diabetes patients of type II ( NIDDM ) in comparison with the normal serum of healthy persons (control group ) , aiming to explain the relation between these variations . The following tests were done :FBS,HbA1cTF, LAF Lipid profiles ,Cu, Zn , and Cu/Zn ratio. The results have been constructed by studying the values of the relation between the variations . The relation between TF, LAF, FBS, HbA1c, Cu and CU/ Zn ratio is positive , while the relation between the above mentioned variations and
... Show MoreBackground: The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor historically recognized for its role in the regulation of toxicity mediated by environmental chemicals. Recent research points to AhR's critical participation in male reproductive physiology, particularly in spermatogenesis, hormone signaling, and the maintenance of sperm quality. Both endogenous ligands (e.g., dietary and gut microbiota-derived metabolites) and exogenous pollutants (e.g., dioxins and benzo-α-pyrene) influence AhR-mediated pathways, making it a key link between environmental exposures and male fertility. Results: This review highlights AhR's influence on the male reproductive system, emphasizing the role of endogenous AhR ligands an
... Show MoreConsidering the expanding frequency of breast cancer and high incidence of vitamin D3 [25(OH)D3] insufficiently, this investigate pointed to explain a relation between serum [25(OH)D3] (the sunshine vitamin) level and breast cancer hazard. The current study aimed to see how serum levels of each [25(OH)D3], HbA1c%, total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglyceride (TG) were affected a woman’s risk of getting breast cancer. In 40 healthy volunteers and 69 untreated breast cancer patients with clinical and histological evidence which include outpatients and hospitalized admissions patients at the Oncology Center, Medical City / Baghdad - Iraq. Venous blood samp
... Show MoreMethicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of the principal nosocomial causative agents. This bacterium has the capability to resist wide range of antibiotics and it is responsible for many diseases like skin, nose and wounds infection. In this study, randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)-PCR was applied with ten random primers to examine the molecular diversity among methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates in the hospitals and to investigate the genetic distance between them. 90 Isolates were collected from clinical specimens from Iraqi hospitals for a total of 90 isolates. Only 10 strains (11.11%) were found to be MRSA. From these 10 primers, only 9 gave clear amplification products. 91 fragment l
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