BACKGROUND: Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a proangiogenic factor that exerts different effects over stem cell survival growth, apoptosis, and adhesion. Its impact on leukemogenesis has been established by many studies. AIM: This study aimed to determine the effect of plasma HGF activity on acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients at presentation and after remission. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional prospective study of 30 newly-diagnosed, adult, and AML patients. All patients received the 7+3 treatment protocol. Patients’ clinical data were taken at presentation, and patients were followed up for 6 months to evaluate the clinical status. Plasma HGF levels were estimated by ELISA based methods in the patients at two intervals first at diagnosis and the 2nd time after remission of disease. Plasma HGF levels were only measured once in twenty healthy control individuals. RESULTS: A statistically significant lowering in the median levels of HGF after remission induction therapy has been found when compared with those before treatment (p = 0.006) and in the group of patients who achieved complete remission in comparison with those before treatment (p = 0.005). Furthermore, a significant reduction was also demonstrated after treatment in patients presenting with extramedullary involvement (p = 0.003) and in the alive group (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Plasma HGF estimation can be a useful parameter in predicting treatment outcomes in patients with AML, and it can add potentially useful information to risk stratification parameters.
Background This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of once-daily liraglutide as an add-on to oral antidiabetics (OADs) on glycemic control and body weight in obese patients with inadequately controlled type 2 diabetes (T2D). Methods A total of 27 obese T2D patients who received 7 months (0.6 mg/day for the first month, 1.2 mg/day for 3 months, and 1.8 mg/day for 3 months) of liraglutide treatment as an add-on to OADs were included. Data on body weight (kg), fasting plasma glucose (FPG, mg/dL), postprandial glucose (PPG, mg/dL), and HbA1c (%), were recorded. Results Liraglutide doses of 1.2 mg/day and 1.8 mg/day were associated with significant decreases in body weight (by 8.0% and 11.9%, respectively, p < 0.01 for each) and HbA1c (by 20.0
... Show MoreBackground: Fixed orthodontic appliances impede the maintenance of oral hygiene and result in plaque accumulation leads to enamel demineralization caused by acids produced by bacteria. Studies on plaque control strategies in orthodontic populations are limited. This might be caused by difficulties in the quantitative evaluation of dental plaque because the teeth have various levels of bracket coverage, and different tooth sizes and malocclusions, making the traditional categorical indices complex. The present study aims to evaluate the effect of different hygiene protocols on plaque quantity on bands with different attachments. Materials and method: Twenty patients had four bands within the orthodontic appliance. Then randomly divided into
... Show MoreBackground: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that postâ€transcriptionally regulate gene expression by targeting specific mRNAs. The main objective of this study was measure the level of salivary (hsa-miR-200a, hsa-miR-125a and hsa- miR-93) in both oral squamous cell carcinoma and healthy controls to asses the association of them with age, gender and tumor grade materials and methods The level of three salivary microRNAs namely hsa-miR-200a, hsa-miR-125a and hsa- miR-93 were measured in saliva of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma and healthy controls by using reveres transcription, preamplification and quantitative PCR also the general information from each patient including the age, sex and tumor grade were record
... Show MoreBackground Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of death worldwide. Ischemic heart disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Lack of blood supply to the brain can cause tissue death if any of the cerebral veins, carotid arteries, or vertebral arteries are blocked. An ischemic stroke describes this type of event. One of the byproducts of methionine metabolism, the demethylation of methionine, is homocysteine, an amino acid that contains sulfur. During myocardial ischemia, the plasma level of homocysteine (Hcy) increases and plays a role in many methylation processes. Hyperhomocysteinemia has only recently been recognized as a major contributor to the increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) owing to its eff
... Show MoreHepatitis C virus (HCV) is a liver disease that affects14 million people. Feasible research was conducted for identifying the genotypes and allele frequency of some single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the IL-28β genes and their predictive role in disease incidence in Iraqi patients. The SNPs (rs28416813, rs4803219, rs11881222, and rs8103142) of IL-28β have been associated with susceptibility to several diseases. Ninety eight (98) HCV patients were included in this research; with average age ± SE (42.28 ± 3.44) years. Also, 80 healthy people (with average age ± SE (29.40 ± 2.84) years) were included as a control group. The SNPs were detected by allele-specific PCR (polymerase chain reaction) using specific primers. The re
... Show MoreObjectives: In order to highlight the TSH and thyroid hormones levels in preeclamptic and healthy pregnant
women.
Methodology: Ninety patients with preeclampsia were divided into two groups according to the severity of
disease; those with mild disease (37 patients) and those with a severe form (53 patients). A separate group of 30
normal women were included as a normal control group. Venus blood samples were collected from all groups
and the serum was obtained for hormone analysis by ELISA test. Results are expressed using SPSS for window
version 11.0.
Results: Mean serum TSH levels were significantly increased in both of mild and severe preeclampsia compared
with normal pregnancy, and T3 serum level showed a sign
The paper shows how to estimate the three parameters of the generalized exponential Rayleigh distribution by utilizing the three estimation methods, namely, the moment employing estimation method (MEM), ordinary least squares estimation method (OLSEM), and maximum entropy estimation method (MEEM). The simulation technique is used for all these estimation methods to find the parameters for the generalized exponential Rayleigh distribution. In order to find the best method, we use the mean squares error criterion. Finally, in order to extract the experimental results, one of object oriented programming languages visual basic. net was used
During recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the investigation of the cytokines roles in pathogenesis of cancer, thus the study aimed at evaluating the level of tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF-?) in sera of Iraqi multiple myeloma (MM) patients. Beta 2-microglobulion (?2-m) was assessed to determine if there was any association between this cytokine and the level of ?2- m, as the latter is related to the stage of the disease. In addition, the age and gender were also taken into consideration. Furthermore, we investigated the relationship between IgG and TNF-? in sera of patients. 49 Iraqi patients (27 males and 22 females).The patients were also divided into two groups: the first group included (17) patients who were
... Show MoreObjective: To evaluate nurses' practices concerning isolation techniques for Adult Leukemic Patients (ALP).
Methodology: A descriptive study was carried out at the isolation rooms at leukemic wards in Baghdad Teaching
Hospitals, starting from Jan. 27th 2008 up to the 27th of Apr. 2008. To achieve the objectives of study, a non-probability
"purposive" sample of (50) nurse was selected out of four Teaching Hospitals in Baghdad city were selected according
to the criteria of the study sample.
The study instrument consisted of two major parts. It is based on the review of literature. First is concerned with
demographic data for nurses; and the second part is observational tool (checklist) is composed of (83) item. The conte