Background: Periodontal diseases are inflammatory diseases affecting the supporting tissues of the teeth. One of the leading environmental factors that are closely related not only to the risk but also to the prognosis of periodontitis is smoking. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of smoking on periodontal health status and to measure the levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9 in smokers and nonsmokers chronic periodontitis patients, also it aimed to test the correlation between the levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9 and the clinical periodontal parameters. Materials and Methods: Five milliliters samples of un-stimulated whole saliva and full-mouth clinical periodontal recordings (plaque index, gingival index, bleeding on probing,

Back ground: Viruses may be involved in the pathogenesis of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM), either through direct β-cell infection or as triggers of
autoimmunity.
Objective: To investigate the presence of specific anti- viral IgG antibodies for Coxsackie virus type B (CVB5), Poliovirus, and Adenovirus which proposed to be
involved in the etiology of T1DM.
Subjects & methods: A total of 60 Iraqi T1DM children were included in the presents study. They were new onset of the disease (diagnosis was from one week up
to five months). For the purpose of comparisons, 50 apparently healthy control subjects were selected. Serum IgG against Coxsackie virus type B5, Adenovirus type
3, 4, and 7, and Poliovac

The locus of enterocyte effacement LEE-encoded regulator (Ler( is a global regulator of multiple virulence genes expression in the Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC), including those encoding the type III secretion pathway and adhesion proteins such as intimin. Ler is central to the process of the formation of the attaching and effacing (AE) lesions. This study aimed to perform the molecular detection of Ler gene in EPEC, since there is no related previous study in Iraq. Two hundred and fifty stool specimens from children under two years of age for both sexes were collected from some Iraqi hospitals. All isolates were diagnosed according to morphological characteristics and biochemical tests. The results showed th

Background: Periodontal diseases are initiated by microbial plaque, which accumulates in the sulcular region and induces an inflammatory response. The Receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa B ligand / osteoprotegerin (RANKL/OPG) axis is involved in the regulation of bone metabolism in periodontitis, in which an increase in receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa B ligand or a decrease in osteoprotegerin can tip the balance in favor of osteoclastogenesis and the resorption of alveolar bone that is the hallmark of periodontitis. This study was performed to investigate the role of salivary levels of RANKL and OPG in pathogenesis of chronic periodontitis. Subjects and Methods: Fifty five subjects with chronic periodontitis with ages rang

Background: laparoscopic cholecystectomy is standard treatment in gallbladder disease. Acute cholecystitis has been relative contraindication of laparoscopic cholecystectomy. With the
accumulation of experience in laparoscopic surgery, laparoscopic cholecystectomy is being gradually applied for the treatment of acute cholecystitis
Objective: to evaluate and compare the outcome of laparoscopic cholecystectomy in acute and chronic cholecystitis in terms of complications, conversion rates, reason of conversion, need for special modifications of the operative technique, and hospital stay.
Methods: A prospective study done Between April 2007 and January 2010, in the department of general surgery, medical city teac

Reactive arthritis (ReA) is an incendiary joint inflammation that occurs few days to weeks after a gastrointestinal or genitourinary infection. The etiology of the disease is not well-known. Therefore, the present study included 80 females and 25 males, divided into 51 patients with reactive arthritis and 54 healthy individuals as control group.  The study involved the detection of serum levels of anti-rheumatoid factor and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies (anti-CCP) as well as those of CRP and C3 in all subjects. In addition, EBV levels were detected by Real Time-PCR technique. The results showed significantly increased levels (P < 0.05) of CRP, C3 and anti-CCP Ab in ReA patients’ group compared to th

Background: several factors render chronic lymphocytic leukemia an interesting subject for study by researchers. These include marked progress in understanding the molecular biology of normal and neoplastic lymphoid cells and recent advances in molecular genetics techniques. Among molecular markers, p-53 cancer suppressor gene has been widely studied.
Objectives: is to correlate p-53 protein expression in chronic lymphocytic leukemia, as examined by immunohistochemical method, with some pathological and clinical parameters.
Patients and methods: this is a retrospective study; whereby archival paraffin-embedded bone marrow tissue blocks along with the clinical and hematological records of fifty patients (35 males and 15 females), wi

Foodborne diseases are a major risk for human health. Millions of people become sick as a result of eating contaminated food with microorganisms that cause diseases. S.  aureus is considered as one of the most important pathogenic bacteria, having the ability to  activate certain genes that encode for heat stable enterotoxins and cause Staphylococcal food poisoning. Thus, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of multi resistant Staphylococcus aureus that produce enterotoxins in different sources of food . Forty nine isolates were identified as S.aureus, according to morphological and biochemical tests. They were isolated from 387 different food samples from several randomly covered restaurants

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) contain free –COOH which thought to be responsible for the GI irritation associated with all traditional NSAIDs. The esterification of this group is one of an approach to ultimate aim for reduce the gastric irritation; so in this study we synthesized and preliminarily evaluated new ester compounds as new analogues with expected selectivity toward COX-2 enzyme. Synthetic procedures have been successfully developed for the generation of the target compounds (III a and b). The synthetic approach involved multi-steps procedures which include: Synthesis of 4-hydroxy benzene sulphonamide ( I b ), synthesis of Naproxen and Ibuprofen acyl chloride and then reacting them with 4-hydroxy benzene sulphon

Background: Chronic kidney disease is a gradual loss of kidney function with diabetes and hypertension as the leading cause. Chronic kidney disease is one of these systemic diseases that can affect salivary contents. Aims: This study aimed to assess salivary immunoglobulin A, interleukin-6 and C- reactive protein in chronic kidney disease patients on hemodialysis and those on conservative treatment in comparison with control subjects. Materials and methods: Ninety subjects were included in this study divided into three groups: 30 patients with chronic kidney disease on hemodialysis for at least 6 months ago; 30 patients with chronic kidney disease on conservative treatment and 30 healthy control subjects. Secretory immunoglobulin A, inte