Background Several studies have addressed the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii), among Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients in different countries, and the potential association between the infection and PD; the results of these studies were conflicting. The study aims to investigate the prevalence of Toxoplasma infection among sample of Iraqi PD patients. Also, to examine the potential association of age, PD duration, gender, smoking habit, zone of residence and family history of PD, with the prevalence of Toxoplasma infection in PD patients.

Patients and Methods Seventy-four PD patients attaining Dr. Saad Al-Witry Neuroscience Hospital in Baghdad/ Ir

Al-Qudis power plant was chosen, as one of the power stations of Baghdad, to investigate the effects of Cadmium that emitted from combustion of crude oil in that power plant on the workers' glutathione serum level. Air samples were taken seasonally during August 2011- July 2012 from four sites at Al- Qudis power plant which are oil treatment unit 1(site 1), oil treatment 2 (site2), pre –chimney 1(site 3) and pre-chimney 2 (site 4), to measure levels of heavy metal (cadmium) under study. Blood samples were collected from the workers to estimate the heavy metal Cadmium. Air cadmium levels during summer (August and September) were varied from 6.26 ± 0.6 μg/m3 at site 1 to 6.89 ± 0.67 μg/m3 at site 3, while in spring (end of March, and

Al-Qudis power plant was chosen, as one of the power stations of Baghdad, to investigate the effects of Cadmium that emitted from combustion of crude oil in that power plant on the workers' glutathione serum level. Air samples were taken seasonally during August 2011- July 2012 from four sites at Al- Qudis power plant which are oil treatment unit 1(site 1), oil treatment 2 (site2), pre –chimney 1(site 3) and pre-chimney 2 (site 4), to measure levels of heavy metal (cadmium) under study. Blood samples were collected from the workers to estimate the heavy metal Cadmium. Air cadmium levels during summer (August and September) were varied from 6.26 ± 0.6 μg/m3 at site 1 to 6.89 ± 0.67 μg/m3 at site 3, while in spring (end of March, and

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the chronic inflammatory autoimmune diseases which occurs as a result of unknown reasons. This study was conducted at Baghdad Teaching Hospital/City of Medicine, where blood samples were taken from 60 Iraqi patients with RA (49 females and 11 males) and these patients were matched by age and sex with 20 healthy controls (16 females and 4 males). Patients with RA were diagnosed by a consultant rheumatologist according to ACR / EULAR criteria in 2010. In this study the patients were divided into four groups as follows; the first group consisted of 12 patients treated with methotrexate (MTX), the second group consisted of 10 patients treated with etanercept, the third group consisted of 18 patients treate

Focusing on the negative role of default risk on banks, as it is one of the most important risks facing banks, which are difficult to determine accurately, and its reflection on the indicators of profitability of cash flows. The increasing competition between banks led to an increase in the credit facilities granted by banks, and was accompanied by an increase in exposure to the risks of default, which led to an impact on the level of performance of banks in terms of achieving the required return according to the levels of high competition. Therefore, the problem of this study focused on the extent to which the risk indicators of default affect the profitability indicators of the cash flows of the banks research sample in the profit

The researcher attempts to diagnose the level of the effect  of strategic thinking skills (intuition, meditation, creativity) of the managers in the Ministry of Health in Iraq and some of its institutions in the formulation of human resources management: (selection, training, incentivence , performance appraisal (Recognizing the importance of the subjects studied, and because of the importance of the expected results of th

Background: Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a stem cell disorder associated with an acquired chromosomal abnormality, Philadelphia chromosome (Ph), which arises from the reciprocal translocation of part of long arm of chromosome 9, in which proto-oncogene ablson gene (abl) is located, to long arm of chromosome 22, in which break point cluster region gene (bcr) is located. The bcr-abl fusion gene can be detected using several molecular methods. For its simplicity, rapidity, and sensitivity, Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) is one of the most common techniques used for analyzing whether a target gene is being expressed or not.
Patients and methods: Venous blood (VB) sample from hem

Background: Vitamin D deficiency/ insufficiency is common in different age groups in both genders especially among pregnant women and neonates where it is associated with several adverse outcomes including preeclampsia and preterm delivery.  

Objectives: To assess the extent of vitamin D deficiency/ insufficiency among mothers and their neonates and some factors related to it and identify some adverse outcomes of the deficiency/ insufficiency on neonates (preterm birth and low birth weight).

Subject and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 88 Iraqi pregnant women and neonates admitted to “Al-Elwiya teaching hospital for maternity” in Baghdad- Al

In their cross-sectional study, Al-Rubaye et al studied the extent of vitamin D (VD) deficiency/ insufficiency, factors affecting its degree, and the adverse outcomes of the altered VD status among a group of mothers and their neonates from Baghdad, Iraq. They found that 96.6% of the mothers had VD deficiency/ insufficiency compared to 86.4% in their neonates. Maternal VD levels and neonatal weights were significantly correlated with neonatal VD levels. We believe that the study results need to be revised. This is based  two points listed in this letter to editor