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.
Background: 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 MoreThe following study was conducted to investigate the correlation between the expression of three different genes (NOB1, DDX47, CD101( with the occurrence and development of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in Iraq. The difference in the expression of these genes between patients and healthy controls was studied. Moreover the correlation of age and gender with CML occurrence and comparing with control was also examined. Results showed significant increases in mean of gene expression level (ΔCt) of patient groups for all genes compared to the corresponding ΔCt means in control group, also the gene expression folding (2-ΔΔCt) reflect significant differences in the expression of these genes and CD101, mRNA showed the highest level in CML pati
... Show MoreSeventy 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
... Show MoreAnkylosing spondylitis (AS) is a common, highly heritable inflammatory arthritis affecting primarily the spine and pelvis. This study was aimed to investigate the relationship between the rs27044 polymorphism in Endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase-1 (ERAP-1) with the susceptibility and severity of AS correlated with some biochemical markers such as hematological parameter (Erythrocytes sedimentation rate (ESR)) and immunological parameters (C-reactive protein (CRP), Human leukocyte antigen-B27 (HLA-B27), Interlukin-6 (IL-6) and Interlukin-23 (IL-23)), and oxidative stress parameters (Glutathione (GSH) and Malondialdehyde (MDA)) in a sample of Iraqi population. A total of 60 blood samples were collected from AS patients requited Rhe
... Show MoreIn this research the Empirical Bayes method is used to Estimate the affiliation parameter in the clinical trials and then we compare this with the Moment Estimates for this parameter using Monte Carlo stimulation , we assumed that the distribution of the observation is binomial distribution while the distribution with the unknown random parameters is beta distribution ,finally we conclude that the Empirical bayes method for the random affiliation parameter is efficient using Mean Squares Error (MSE) and for different Sample size .
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways in which many cells and cellular elements play a role. The treatment guidelines recommend theuse of a second controller drug in addition to medium doses of inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) rather than the use of high doses ICS alone in the treatment of moderate-severe persistent asthma. This study was conducted to compare the clinical efficacy and safety of three treatment regimens in Iraqi patients with moderate-severe persistent asthma.The study included three groups; each group included 15 patients. Patients were administered beclomethasone inhaler alone 1500-2000 μg/day, beclomethasone inhaler 750-1000 μg/day plus oral controlled release aminophylline tablets 450 mg/day or
... Show MoreBackground: Worldwide gastric cancer is the fifth most common cancer with poor prognosis. In early stages, it is hard to distinguish gastric cancer from benign gastric diseases, resulting in delayed diagnosis. There is a need to develop a biomarker for differentiating between gastric cancer and benign gastric diseases. Serum cholinesterase is synthesized in liver and released into plasma, and it has an important role in oncogenesis.
Objectives: To determine the correlation between serum cholinesterase activity and gastric cancer, in comparison to benign gastric diseases.
Subjects and Methods: A case control study carried out at Medical City Direct
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