Background: Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is an autoimmune vesiculobullous mucocutaneous disease with life-threatening consequences. Rituximab (RTX) has recently emerged as an effective treatment for PV. Objectives: This study aims to determine changes in neutrophil and platelet counts for PV patients treated with RTX or corticosteroids combined with Imuran (azathioprine). Materials and Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Dermatology at Baghdad Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq. Thirty PV patients received two types of treatment: 15 patients were administered RTX and 15 patients took corticosteroids with Imuran (azathioprine). Neutrophil and platelet counts were detected at the hospital laboratory. Results

Background: Periodontitis and Atherosclerosis Cardiovascular disease are chronic inflammatory diseases which are highly prevalent. During the last two decades, there has been an increasing interest in the impact of oral health on atherosclerosis and subsequent cardiovascular disease.Aims of the study wereto evaluate the periodontal health status in study groups (Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease patients with chronic periodontitis and patients having chronic periodontitis),to estimate the serum levels of Matrixmetalloproteinase-8(MMP-8) and high sensitive C-reactive protein(hs CRP) in study and control groups and compare between them. Also,test the correlation between the serum levels of MMP-8 and hs CRP with clinical periodontal par

  Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women over the world. To reducing reoccurrence and mortality rates, adjuvant hormonal therapy (AHT) is used for a long period. The major barrier to the effectiveness of the treatment is adherence. Adherence to medicines among patients is challenging. Patient beliefs in medications can be positively or negatively correlated to adherence. Objectives: To investigate the extent of adherence and factors affecting adherence, as well as to investigate the association between beliefs and adherence in women with breast cancer taking AHT. Method: A cross-sectional study included 124 Iraqi women with breast cancer recruited from Middle Euphrates

This study dealt with IL-13 1024 (C/T) gene genotyping among patients with Thyroid goiter in Iraq. Forty blood samples from patients with Thyroid goiter were collected and compared with 30 healthy persons as controls. The genotyping results of IL-13 1024 (C/T) gene using ARMS-PCR revealed presence TT, CC and CT genotypes beside T and C alleles. The T allele and TT genotype frequency were higher in Thyroid goiter patients compared to the same genotype and allele in healthy persons (P = 0.060). These increasing results were related with increasing risk factor of Thyroid goiter (odds ratio [OR] 2.15; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.99–71.4). No significant differences between genotypes for Thyroid goiter patients and controls were revealed by

Background: Globally, breast cancer is the second leading cause of death among women in Iraq. Several genetic and environmental factors are associated..

This study was carried out to describe the gene expression of the micro RNA 122a gene with the development of diabetes in Iraq. The difference in gene expression between patients and healthy controls was properly considered. In this study, blood was isolated from 121 individuals divided into two groups as follows: 80 samples of diabetic patients and 41 samples from a healthy control. miRNA was isolated and transformed into cDNA, and the expression of mi122a was measured by qRT-PCR. The researchers looked at the relationship between age and gender and the occurrence of diabetes, as well as how they compared to controls. When comparing the mean gene expression level (Ct) of patient groups to the corresponding Ct means in the control group, th

Objective: The evaluation of serum osteocalcin (OSN) for Iraqi infertile patients to see the effect of osteocalcin insufficiency, which may lead to a decreased level of testosterone production in males that may cause infertility. Methods: Forty two newly diagnosed infertile males age range (24–47) years and thirty two apparently healthy males as controls age range (25–58) years. Serum levels of testosterone (TEST), stimulating follicle hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH), prolactin (PROL), osteocalcin OSN, and fasting blood sugar (FBS) were performed in both patients and controls. Estimation of serum OSN by Immulite1000 auto-analyzer, TEST, FSH, LH, PROL, and FBS by Immulite2000 auto-analyzer. Results: Infertile patients

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an autosomal recessive multisystem disease that results from mutation(s) of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene. More than 2100 mutations and polymorphisms have been reported in this gene so far. Incidence and genotyping of CF are under-identified in Iraq. This study aims to determine the types and frequencies of certain CFTR mutations among a sample of Iraqi CF patients. Two groups of patients were included: 31 clinically confirmed CF patients in addition to 47 clinically suspected patients of CF. All confirmed pa