Background: Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disease of the neuromuscular junction that results in fluctuating muscle weakness as well as significant fatigue. Disease exacerbation is a critical condition, and the predisposing factors for it need to be identified to improve preventive measures.

Objectives:  Our study aims to determine the predisposing factors for myasthenia gravis exacerbations in a group of Iraqi patients.

Subjects and Methods: A total number of 30 myasthenia gravis patients were admitted to the hospital with an exacerbation of their symptoms, determined as the development of functional disability, dysphagia, or respiratory fai

Acinetobacter baumannii ability to form biofilm makes it to be opportunistic pathogen causing of nosocomial infections and to be good survivor in adverse environmental conditions including medical devices and hospital environments. Six isolates of A. baumannii were isolated from drinking water and tested to investigate biofilm formation capacity on three different type of abiotic surface, also several factors were examined such as hydrophobicity, PH and temperature. All A. baumannii isolates displayed a positive biofilm on congored aga test CRA (pigmented colonies with black color) and Christensen's test (adhesive layer of stained material to the inside surface of the tube).The obtained data of microbial adhesion to hydrocarbons assay (MATH

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: Arylesterase activity of Paraoxonase-1 (ARE-PON-1) exhibits an antioxidant role which protects lipoprotein from oxidation. It is known that ARE-PON-1 antioxidant activity associated with high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) reduces the oxidative damage mediated by low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). The present study was aimed to examine the level of serum ARE-PON1 in Iraqi patients with β-thalassemia minor and its relationship with lipid profile (total cholesterol (TC), HDL-C, very low density lipoprotein (VLDL-C), and LDL-C) and hematologic changes as a part of antioxidant system action. Methods: In the present study, the ARE-PON-1 activity was investigated in serum of patients with β-thalassemia minor. Resu

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) has a worldwide distribution and common infections. The presence of HCMV genome and antigens has been detected in many kinds of human cancers. The proto-oncogene Her2/neu is overexpressed in 25% to 30% of human breast cancers and frequently associated with tumor aggressiveness and worse prognosis. Examination was applied to detect different HCMV antigens and to demonstrate their correlation with Her2/neu overexpression in breast cancer. The present study includes samples from 70 women of 60 breast cancer patients and 10 normal breast tissues. Formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tissue blocks were obtained from each woman according to ethical approval. Human cytomegalovirus early antigen expression was detected in 5

KE Sharquie, R Hayani, J Al-Rawi, A Noaimi, SH Radhy, CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL RHEUMATOLOGY, 2010