Objectives: Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) is WNT/b-catenin pathway antagonist which plays a detrimental role in the development of diabetic retinopathy (DR). This research aimed to assess serum DKK-1 levels in diabetic patients who have and have not developed DR and, compare them with the control subjects finding out whether we can use it as an indicator for DR early diagnosis and to find out which one of the widely used two groups of antidiabetic treatments had the greater effect on this biomarker and hence on the progression of DR. Methods: The study participants were divided into two subgroups: First, 70 patients (36 male, 34 female) with type 2 diabetes mellitus, among them 35 patients diagnosed with DR and 35 with no evidence of DR, and s

Background: Legionella pneumophila (L. pneumophila) is gram-negative bacterium, which causes Legionnaires’ disease as well as Pontiac fever. Objective: To determine the frequency of Legionella pneumophila in pneumonic patients, to determine the clinical utility of diagnosing Legionella pneumonia by urinary antigen testing (LPUAT) in terms of sensitivity and specificity, to compares the results obtained from patients by urinary antigen test with q Real Time PCR (RT PCR) using serum samples and to determine the frequency of serogroup 1 and other serogroups of L. pneumophila. Methods: A total of 100 pneumonic patients (community acquired pneumonia) were enrolled in this study during a period between October 2016 to April 2017; 92 sam

bstract         This study was performed to isolate and identify the Burkholderia cepacia from rhizosphers of different plants and study their ability to produce Siderophore, the study was also aimed to assess the antifungal activity of the bacterial filtrate and extracts of the isolates against some pathogenic fungi.     The isolate which showed higher inhibitory effects was selected for extraction of some active metabolites produced by it, and evaluate the activity in vitro, via inhibition of the growth of the fungi using different concentrations of extract (50, 100, 200 )µL/ml , The results showed that out of  (250) samples of soil , (8) isolates (3.2%) gave positive

The present study was conducted to estimate the incidence, clinical findings, cytological and histopathological characteristics of spontaneously occurring skin neoplasms in dogs. A total of 40 grossly suspected cases of cutaneous and subcutaneous tumors were gathered during the period from July 2016 to August 2018 from male and female dogs in Baghdad city. Dogs with skin neoplasia revealed various clinical signs, and their ages were older than 5 years to 15 years. German shepherd 30% followed by Terrier dogs 25% were more influenced than other breeds. Concerning tumor features, the majority of neoplasms had solitary lesion 70%, regular shapes 65% with black color 55%. The tumors frequently occurred on fore-limbs and abdomen, and 80% of them

Diabetes mellitus type 2 (T2DM) formerly called non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) or adult-onset diabetes is a common disease. Rheumatoid factor is a well-established test used in the diagnosis and follows the prognosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Rheumatoid factor is sometimes found in serum of patients with other diseases including diabetes mellitus (DM), due to the presence of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF- α which play an important role in chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The aim of the study is to investigate the associations between type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in scope of rheumatoid factor (RF), hyperglycemia a

          Type 2 diabetes Nephropathy complication is one of the most commonest metabolic disorders that becomes an advanced serum level of hormone altered. The objective is to study the effect of leptin levels in Type 2 diabetes nephropathy (D.N) complication and healthy subject.       This study was done in National Diabetes Center (NDC), AL-Mustansriya University;on a total (64) individuals whase age were ranged from(45-60) years,of which (38) patients of  type 2 diabetes nephropathy, and (26) healthy( controls). The collected data ,information concerning the individuals used in the present study were: age, sex , body mass index (BMI) and blood samples to

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) is a common human pathogen that causes severe infections in newborns and immunocompromised patients. Conjunctivitis or corneal epithelial keratitis is caused by HSV type 1 all over the world and at all times of the year. The present study was aimed at detecting HSV in patients suffering from conjunctivitis. One hundred and ten (110) clinical samples (90 patients and 20 controls, both males and females) of eye conjunctiva swabs were collected from patients of different ages. The samples were analyzed using qPCR and ELISA techniques. The qPCR results revealed that HSV was present in 47 (52.2%) of the 90 patients who were infected. Of these patients, 25 (48.0%) were males and 22 (57.8%) were females, indicati

Lipid disorders and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk are known to be increased in patients with diabetes mellitus. The effects of statins on serum lipid levels are well known; however, previous studies did not compare the effects of statins on serum lipid levels in diabetic patients with non-diabetic patients. To investigate the effects of Atorvastatin on serum lipid profiles in hyperlipidemic patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in comparison with hyperlipidemic patients without diabetes.This study was conducted on 33 type 2 diabetic patients & 34 non-diabetic patients; their age range was 40-80 years, all of them were hyperlipidemic, who had been administered 10, 20, & 40 mg daily of Atorvastatin and completed a 6-month foll