Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways in which many cells and cellular elements play a role. The treatment guidelines recommend theuse of a second controller drug in addition to medium doses of inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) rather than the use of high doses ICS alone in the treatment of moderate-severe persistent asthma. This study was conducted to compare the clinical efficacy and safety of three treatment regimens in Iraqi patients with moderate-severe persistent asthma.The study included three groups; each group included 15 patients. Patients were administered beclomethasone inhaler alone 1500-2000 μg/day, beclomethasone inhaler 750-1000 μg/day plus oral controlled release aminophylline tablets 450 mg/day or

Abstract Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a prevalent chronic microvascular diabetic complication. As inflammation plays a vital role in the development and progress of DN the macrophages migration inhibitory factor (MIF), a proinflammatory multifunctional cytokine approved to play a critical function in inflammatory responses in various pathologic situations like DN. This study aimed To assess serum levels of MIF in a sample of Iraqi diabetic patients with nephropathy supporting its validity as a marker for predicting nephropathy in T2DM patients. In addition, to evaluate the nephroprotective effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors in terms of their influence on MIF levels. This is a case-control study involving ninety

Background:Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a progressive, chronic inflammatory illness with an unclear etiology that explicitly targets the vertebral column, peripheral joints, and extraarticular tissues. The purpose of this research was to investigate if the existence of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the promoter region of the tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) gene at positions -1031T/C (rs199964), -857C/T (rs1799724) and -806C/T (rs4248158) in a sample of Iraqi AS patients could influence the patients' outcomes with etanercept.

Methods:Sixty patients with established AS receiving only etanercept were selected to enroll in this study, with a mean age of 40.75±8.6

Background: Crohn's disease (CD) is an immunological disorder associated with chronic inflammatory process of several unspecific regions of gastrointestinal tract but frequently detected in the terminal Ilium and proximal colon or both. This disease frequently presented with various oral manifestations as a consequence of inflammatory process of the disease, nutritional deficiency or medications side effects. Several therapeutic approaches have been developed for CD management that are targeting the inflammatory process and directed at controlling the host immune response. Immunosuppressants such as Azathioprine and anti-TNF α agents as well as the combination of them have been widely used as an effective therapeutic modality with a bett

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) mean microbial pathogens in the urethra or bladder (lower urinary tract). Important risk factors for recurrent UTI include obstruction of the urinary tract, use of a bladder catheter or a suppressed immune system. This study aims to isolate and identify bacteria from patients with TCC-bladder cancer or patients with a negative cystoscope and estimate antibiotic susceptibility patterns and evaluate some of the virulence factors. From a total of 62 patients with TCC-BC or negative cystoscope, only 35 favorable bacterial growths were obtained, including Escherichia coli (UPEC), a significant bacterial isolate, and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia. The percentage of multi drug-resistance bacteria

Background: Diabetic is a chronic systemic disorder of glucose metabolism. That could be diagnosed using fasting and/or random plasma glucose and Glycated Haemoglobin (HbA1c). Several biochemical and microbial alterations of saliva could affect dental caries occurrence and severity among diabetic patients. The aim of the present study was to assess the relation of salivary glucose with severity of dental caries and Mutans Streptococci, among uncontrolled and controlled diabetic groups in comparison with non-diabetic control group. Materials and Methods: The total sample composed of adults aged (18-22) years. Divided into 25 uncontrolled diabetic patients (HbA1c > 7), 25 controlled diabetic patients (HbA1c ≤ 7), in addition to 25 no

Background: Most prevalent chronic liver disease in developed and developing nations is non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. From fatty liver, which often has benign, non-progressive clinical history, to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, a more serious variant of fatty liver that can lead to cirrhosis and end-stage liver disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease encompasses broad spectrum of diseases. The gold standard for determining extent of hepatic fibrosis is still liver biopsy; however, number of noninvasive tests have been established to make diagnosis and assess effectiveness of treatment.

Objective: Aim of study was to assess effectiveness of the combination of fibroscan and

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a liver disease that affects14 million people. Feasible research was conducted for identifying the genotypes and allele frequency of some single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the IL-28β genes and their predictive role in disease incidence in Iraqi patients. The SNPs (rs28416813, rs4803219, rs11881222, and rs8103142) of IL-28β have been associated with susceptibility to several diseases. Ninety eight (98) HCV patients were included in this research; with average age ± SE (42.28 ± 3.44) years. Also, 80 healthy people (with average age ± SE (29.40 ± 2.84) years) were included as a control group. The SNPs were detected by allele-specific PCR (polymerase chain reaction) using specific primers. The re

Background Bilateral cleft lip deformity is much more difficult to correct than unilateral cleft lip deformity. The complexity of the deformity and the sensitive relationships between the arrangement of the muscles and the characteristics of the external lip necessitate a comprehensive preoperative plan for management. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the repair of bilateral cleft lip using the Byrd modification of the traditional Millard and Manchester methods. A key component of this repair technique is focused on reconstruction of the central tubercle.

Methods Fourteen patients with mean age of 5.7 months presented with bilateral cleft lip deformity and were operated on using a mod