Background: Acromegaly is an uncommon, chronic, debilitating condition characterized by hyperinsulinism, insulin resistance, diabetes and prediabetes. One possibility for managing acromegaly's questionable influence on glucose homeostasis is the somatostatin analogues. Aim: To analyze the frequency and risk factors for impaired glucose homeostasis in acromegaly patients treated with depot long-acting octreotide (octreotide LAR), as well as the relationship between risk and treatment duration. Methods: The study included 52 Iraqi adults with acromegaly receiving octreotide LAR. Demographic, anthropometric, and clinical data were collected, as well as the duration of Octreotide LAR administration. Growth hormone, IGF-1, and adenoma size were reported retrospectively from patient data. The glycemic state was assessed and classified as DM, prediabetes, or normal. Results: The prevalence of DM was 39% and prediabetes was 40%, with the exception of being male, which was substantially related with prediabetes. DM and octreotide LAR use had a non-significant correlation. However, octreotide use altered 13% of patients from normal glycemic to prediabetes, with no correlation to treatment duration. Other than hypertension and a family history of diabetes, no other variables were found to be significant. Conclusion: Acromegaly patients have abnormal glucose metabolism, which is associated with prediabetes owing to octreotide LAR medication. Hypertension and family history of diabetes are risk factors.
During infection, T. gondii disseminates by the circulatory system and establishes chronic infection in several organs. Almost third of humans, immunosuppressed individuals such as HIV/AIDS patients, cancer patients, and organ transplant recipients are exposed to toxoplasmosis. Therefore, the study aimed to investigate the possibility that Toxoplasma infection could be a risk factor for COVID-19 patients and its possible correlation with C-reactive protein and ferritin. Overall 220 patients referred to the Al Furat General Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq were enrolled from 2020–2021. All serum samples were tested for T. gondii immunoglobulins (IgG and IgM) antibodies, C-reactive protein and ferritin levels. In patients with COVID-19, the results
... Show MoreBackground: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is caused of 85% of all lung cancers. Among the most important factors for lung tumor growth and proliferation are the tyrosine kinase receptors that coded by the epidermal growth factor recep-tor (EGFR) gene. Activation of EGFR ultimately leads to developing of lung cancer. The present study was undertaken with an objective to detect EGFR mutations in bronchial wash from Iraqi patients with NSCLC before treatment. Methods: DNA was extracted from bronchial wash samples collected from 50 patients with NSCLC by using a Qiamp DNA Mini Kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany). Then, EGFR mutations were determined by using real-time RCR combined with two technologies, Amplification Refractory Mutation System (
... Show MoreDespite not being digested, trace elements and/or heavy metals are important for the activity of enzymes, physiological processes, and homeostasis. If certain trace elements are present in excess, they can have harmful effects and pose major health hazards. Objective: The aims to examine the connection between serum zinc, copper levels, and the Cu/Zn ratio, and several anthropometric parameters, including an index of body mass and the waist-hip ratio. In our study, we used atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) to measure serum levels of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) in 60 individuals, 30 patients with kidney cancer and 30 healthy controls. We assessed serum uric acid, creatinine, and urea using the semi-auto analyzer BA-88A (Korea). The results
... Show MoreBackground: Direct measurement of intracellular magnesium using erythrocytes has been suggested as a sensitive indicator for the estimation of body magnesium store. Marked depletion in plasma and erythrocyte magnesium levels was particularly evident in diabetic patients with advanced retinopathy and poor diabetic control. While insulin has been shown to stimulate erythrocyte magnesium uptake, hyperglycemia per se suppressed intracellular magnesium in normal human red cells.
Aim of the study: To investigate the erythrocyte magnesium level in Iraqi type I and II diabetic patients, with specific emphasis on the effect of both, metabolic control and the type of antidiabetic treatments.
Methods: Sixty two diabetic patients (7 with type
Hypertension is one of the leading causes of the global burden of disease, which causes serious health problems. The aim of this study is to investigate the lipid profile levels in sera of Iraqi hypertensive patients by measuring Total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) and low density lipoproteins (LDL) and kidney function levels by measuring uric acid, urea and creatinine. Seventy five individuals of Iraqi adults (Males) were divided into three groups: 25 hypertensive patients with duration of disease (1-10) year (group 1), 25 hypertensive patients with duration of disease (11-30) year (group 2) and 25 normal individuals as control group (group3). The findings indicate that serum (TC, TG and LDL) levels were significantly elevated (
... Show MoreBreast cancer is the most diagnosed form of malignant tumour in Iraqi women. Tamoxifen and trastuzumab are highly effective adjuvant therapy for breast cancer.
This study's objectives were to define the patient's belief in tamoxifen or trastuzumab when used as adjuvant therapy and to determine the variation in belief between the two medications in a sample of Iraqi breast cancer patients.
The cross-section survey was conducted using the BMQ-Specific questionnaire. Ninety-seven participants (sixty-seven tamoxifen, thirty trastuzumab) participated in this study.
The mean of specific-necessity scale for tamoxifen was (3.7) and for trastuzumab (4). The findings showed a high necessity for both medicines, and there wer
... Show MoreDuodenal and gastric ulcers remain the two most common perforations of the gastrointestinal tract and might be reduced by the early detection of predictive factors, which has limitedly researched. This study conducted to examine the predictive factors for developing of gastroduodenal ulcer among patients attending Gastrointestinal Teaching Hospitals in Baghdad, Iraq.
A cross-sectional survey with a total of 100 patients with gastric and duodenal ulcers was recruited using a nonprobability (purposive) sampling techniqu
Seventy four Iraqi breast cancer paraffin blocks were collected from patients were attended to center health laboratory, histopathology department, Bagdad, Iraq. The patients information’s which included: name, age, and the pathological stage, grade, tumor size were obtained from the clinical records of the patients also relation with sex hormones was recorded. The cases which has been taken included invasive ductal and invasive lobular carcinoma type Women age were ranged from 24-80 years peak age frequency of tumor occurred in the category of more than 40 years old. Immunohistochemical expression of her-2/neu was from total 74 cases of infiltrative ductal carcinoma cases, 27(36.49%)were positive for Her-2/neu expression, 47(63.51%) were
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