Background: Rituximab is a chimeric IgG1 kappa immunoglobulin that has been genetically modified to incorporate human constant region sequences together with murine light- and heavy-chain variable region sequences. People use it to treat rheumatoid arthritis and certain malignancies. Objective: The study aimed to assess the potential association between the serum levels of Factor I, CD59, interleukins (IL)-6, and interferon-gamma (IFN)-γ and the response to Rituximab treatment in Iraqi rheumatoid arthritis patients. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the rheumatology center at Baghdad Teaching Hospital. Ninety adult patients who have been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and are receiving Rituximab intravenous infusions were included. The enrolled patients were divided into a responder group (45 patients) and a non-responder group (45 patients). The response to Rituximab was assessed according to the 28-joint Disease Activity Score (DAS28). Results: The serum levels of Factor I and CD59 were significantly higher in the non-responders group in comparison to the responders group. In addition, the serum IL-6 and IFN-γ levels were significantly elevated in the non-responders group in comparison to the responders group. The estimated marker serum levels showed a strong, significant correlation with the 6-month change in DAS28. Conclusions: In Rituximab nonresponder RA patients, serum levels of Factor I, CD59, Factor H, IL-6, and IFN-γ are higher, and they have good potential to be used in the assessment of the response to Rituximab therapy.
Cytokines are a group of immunomodulatory proteins leading to a variety of immune reactions in the human; these cytokines play a significant role in the development of appropriate immune responses against T. gondii. This study aims to reveal the association of toxoplasmosis with serum levels of IL-3, IL-17A, and IL-27 in aborted women. The blood samples of patients and controls were collected from Al-Alawiya Maternity Teaching Hospital/Baghdad/Iraq from 2019 to 2020 for detecting anti-T. gondii antibodies (IgG and IgM) and the level of interleukins by ELISA. The results of TORCH by rapid test for recurrent abortion recorded 25.3% seropositive for anti-Toxoplasma antibodies, and 31.5% seropositive for one or more cases of TORCH test (Cytomeg
... Show MoreBackground: Diabetes mellitus is a major risk factor for chronic periodontitis (CP) and hyperglycemia has an important role in the enhancement of the severity of the periodontitis. It has been reported that the progression of CP causes shifting of the balance between bone formation and resorption toward osteoclastic resorption, and this will lead to the release of collagenous bone breakdown products into the local tissues and the systemic circulation. Cross-linked N-telopeptide of type I collagen (NTx) is the amino-terminal peptides of type I collagen which is released during the process of bone resorption. This study was conducted to determine the effects of nonsurgical periodontal therapy on serum level of NTx in type 2 diabetic patients
... Show MoreUrinary Tract Infection is an infection that caused by the members of the genus
Proteus that depends mainly on the availability of virulence factors ;Various
virulence factors including biofilm, swarming migration , polysaccharide
,heamolysin,protease, DNase, urease production weredetermined for 45Proteus
isolates that obtained from clinical specimens of Urinry Tract Infection patient .
The distribution of virulence factors was showed variation among the testedisolates
and strain specific in most cases. All Proteus isolates showed 45 (100%)biofilm ,
polysaccharide andSwarming capabilities with different extents. High
ureaseproduction was demonstrated in most isolates 40 (88.8%);In addition, they
were abling to
Background: This study aimed to determine the value of Beta angle for a sample of Iraqi adults with class I skeletal and dental relations and to verify the existence of sexual dimorphism and to find out the relation between this angle and other craniofacial measurements. Materials and Methods: Sixty dental students (23 males and 37 females) with an age ranged between 20-31 years old and having class I skeletal and dental relations were chosen for this study. Each student was subjected to clinical examination and digital true lateral cephalometric radiograph. The radiographs were analyzed using AutoCAD 2007 computer program to measure the angular and linear variables. Descriptive statistics were obtained for the measurements for both genders
... Show MoreInterleukin-33 [IL-33] is a specific ligand for the ST2 receptor, and a member of the
IL-1 family. It is a dual-function protein that acts both as an extracellular alarmin cytokine,
and an as an intracellular nuclear factor participates in maintaining barrier function by
regulating gene expression of IL-33 modulating tumor growth and anti-tumor immunity in
cancer patients. The present study aimed to investigate the role of IL-33 serum level and gene
polymorphism in Iraqi women with breast cancer. Materials and methods: Blood samples
were collected from 66 Iraqi patient women diagnosed with breast cancer, which were divided
into two groups: pre-treatment [PT] and under treatment with chemotherapy [UTC] patients in
The aim of this study was to evaluate the biological importance of the magnitude of oxidative stress, antioxidant and the levels of nitric oxide (NO) in the female patients infected with Toxoplasma gondii by analyzing the levels of erythrocyte malondialdehyde (MDA) as an indicator for the oxidative stress and erythrocyte reduced glutathione (GSH) level as indicator for the antioxidant status and serum nitric oxide levels. This prospective study was conducted on fifty female patients with toxoplasmosis and thirty normal healthy females of comparable age and sex were considered as normal control. A statistically significant difference was found between patients and control group in terms of MDA, GSH and NO levels. A decrease i
... Show MoreDuring 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 MoreThe second most commonly diagnosed cancer is colorectal cancer (CRC) is in female. The levels of progranulin, obestatin and liver enzymes including ALT, AST and ALP were measured in forty five sera in female patients suffering from CRC before chemotherapy initiation treatment as G1, G2 after first chemotherapy cycle and G3 after second chemotherapy cycle compared with thirty female as a healthy control G4. Results showed a high significant increased in progranulin concentration and a high significant decrease in obestatin in G2 than other groups. The correlation between progranulin and ALP was a significant negative (-ve) relation while obestatin with AST gave a significant positive (+ve) correlation in G. The results also showed non signif
... Show MoreCoronary artery disease (CAD) is a condition of an inadequate supply of oxygenated blood to a portion of the myocardium. It typically occurs when there is an imbalance between supply and demand of myocardial oxygen. The most common cause of myocardial ischemia is atherosclerotic disease of an epicardial coronary artery or arteries which is sufficient to cause a regional reduction in myocardial blood flow and inadequate perfusion of the myocardium supplied by the involved coronary artery. Fifty CAD subjects (23 females and 27 males) were enrolled in this study in addition to thirty healthy control subjects (13 female and 17 male). This study aimed to measure the serum levels of interleukin IL- 33, C- reactive prot
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