Human beta-defenses (hBDs) are antimicrobial peptides involved in innate immune protection, and their association with the risk of respiratory allergy has been proposed. Therefore, this study sought to evaluate this association in allergic rhinitis (AR) and asthma (AS) of Iraqi patients. A case-control study was conducted to investigate serum levels of hBD1, hBD2, hBD3, and hBD4 in 52 AR and 60 AS patients and 61 healthy controls (HC). The hBDs were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. Results revealed that median levels of hBD1, hBD2, and hBD3 were significantly elevated in the serum of AR and AS patients compared with HC (p < 0.01). Levels of hBD4 were also elevated in AR and AS patients but the differen

       Some studies indicated a relationship between increased serum levels of osteoprotegerin with arterial calcification and as a result, it leads to the risk of cardiovascular disease. In our study group we selected patients with osteoporosis, with similar age and body mass index for the assessment of the relationship between cardiovascular disease and osteoprotegerin serum level. We took into account the analysis of correlation and association between the presence of distinct patterns of atherosclerosis and associated diseases like high blood pressure,  diabetes mellitus, low HDL cholesterol, increased LDL cholesterol, increased triglycerides and was the case of presence of any type of dyslipidemia,

The mean age of AS patients was (35.0 ± 9.8) years.When the patients and control subjects were divided into different age groups (>40, 30-40, <30 years), the differences were not significantin terms of disease prevalence. The results also showed that the percentage of male patients is higher than that of females. There was no significant difference (P?0.05) between patients and controls in the distribution of males and females.Most of the patients had the disease for a period of 5 years or higher, with a disease severity of ? 2.1 and functional disability degree of I, II. The resultsshoweddifferent patterns of distribution for the three tested cytokines. A significant increase in the level of TNF-?, anon-significantincrease i

Background: Although iron chelation therapies have been available for many years for thalassemia intermedia patients, iron accumulation remains the major cause of death. Therefore, the need for additional chelation options is in demand. This randomized controlled study aimed to understand the effects of green tea on iron balance in thalassemia intermedia patients.

Methods: Using a random selection method, 141 thalassemia intermedia patients were initially screened for inclusion in this trial; only 68 patients included after applying exclusion criteria. Two equal groups were generated (n=34/group): green tea (three cups/day after meals) + usual treatment (deferasirox iron chelat

the association between celiac disease and viral infection

Prostate cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in men. A total of 110 Iraqi Arab individuals were included in this study; 60 individuals of them had prostate cancer with increased levels of TPSA (patients group); their age range 52-90 years. They were referred for diagnosis and treatment to the National Al-Amal Hospital for oncology in Baghdad during the period from July 2017 to October 2017. While the other 50 apparently healthy subjects were the control group, their age range similar to patients group. Sera and blood samples were collected from all patients and controls than used to assess for the level of IL-18 and DNA extraction, respectively. The polymorphisms were analyzed using polymerase chain reaction-single specific

Abstract

The current study aims to evaluate levels of metabolic hormones and lipid profile in a sample of growth hormone (GH) deficient patients. Seventy five GH deficient patients and twenty healthy subjects used as control group have been participated in this study during their attendance to the National Diabetic Center for Treatment and Research/Al-Mustansiriya University. The studied subjects’ ages were with a range (3-15 years). Blood samples were collected from the studied subjects to determine levels of basal GH, GH₂ and GH₃ after 1 hr and 1/30 hr provocation with clonidine, respectively; insulin like growth factor (IGF-1); levels of metabolic hormones [thyroid profile: triiodo

The present study was aimed to find out the role of humoral immunity in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Complements C3, C4 and immunoglobulin IgE .The study included 55 Iraqi patients with psoriasis 30 (15 females ,15 males) were untreated with any drugs. The other patient group consisted of 25 (9 female and 16 male) treated with a biological treatment (infliximab) ,and 30 (13 males ,12 females) healthy control group. Blood sample were withdrawn (5) ml of venous blood for both patients and members of the control ,to conduct the Immunological tests to determine the quantitative for each of total IgE by using (ELISA) and C3,C4 by Single Radial Immunodiffuse (SIRD). The results showed significant increase in the level of probability (P <0.0

Breast cancer (BC) is the most prevalent tract cancer in the world, including Iraq. The classified breast tumors to benign, malignant, and radiotherapy. Cancer treatment depends on certain stages such as mastectomy then chemotherapy alone or with radiation therapy or endocrine therapy according to the prognostic features obtained from the pathology report. The present study included 100 females. The women were split into two groups, control group that consisted of 50 apparently healthy females and 50 patients with BC group who undergo the radiotherapy. The current study highlighted on some of the anthropometric measurements, including the oxidative stress index malondialdehyde (MDA), the concentrations of total antioxidant capacity (TAC), s