Leishmania species are the causative agent of a tropical disease known as leishmaniasis. Previous studies on the old world species Leishmania major, showed that the amastigotes form which resides inside the macrophage of the vertebrate host, utilize host’s sphingolipids for survival and proliferation. In this study, gene expression of serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT) subunit two (MmLCB2) of the mouse macrophage cell line (RAW264.7), which is the first enzyme in the de novo sphingolipid biosynthesis, was detected in both infected and non-infected macrophages. This was detected under condition where available sphingolipid was reduced, with the new world species Leishmania mexicana. Results of qPCR analysis showed that there was no difference in the expression of MmLCB2 in infected and non-infected macrophages, under normal and serum-reduced media, suggesting that host sphingolipid did not up-regulated during infection. This can be concluded as a difference between the Old and New world Leishmania on the level of host-parasite interaction.
Background: CYP1A1 gene polymorphisms and tobacco smoking are among several risk factors for various types of cancers, but their influence on breast cancer remains controversial. We analyzed the possible association of CYP1A1 gene polymorphisms and tobacco smoking-related breast cancer in women from Iraq. Materials and methods: In this case-control study, gene polymorphism of CYP1A1 gene (CYP1A1m1, T6235C and CYP1A1m2, A4889G) of 199 histologically verified breast cancer patients' and 160 cancer-free control women's specimens were performed by using PCR-based restriction fragment length polymorphism. Results: Three genotype frequencies (TT, TC, and CC) of CYP1A1m1T/C appeared in 16.1, 29.6, and 54.3% of women with breast cancer, respectiv
... Show MoreBack ground : The transforming growth factor beta (TGFB) signaling pathway is involved in many cellular processes in both the adult organism and the developing embryo including cell growth, cell differentiation, apoptosis. The interaction between implant material and surrounding tissues is believed to play a fundamental role in implant success and illustrates different expression of growth factors by different cells that involved in the formation of peri-implant tissue. The aim of this study was to localize expression of TGF B by newly formed bone tissue around surface-conditioned implants with placental collagen at different time intervals: 3 ,7,14,28, and 56 days . Materials and Methods: Commercially pure Titanium (CPTi) implants coated w
... Show MoreThis study included the estimation of growth rate, viability and morphological changes in different culture media (NNN, P-Y, RPMI- 1640, and Panmed). Promastigotes cultured in RPMI-1640 showed maximal growth rate after (2, 4, 6) days of cultivation (27.26 ± 0.05), (172.20 ± 0.1) and (343.81 ± 1.48) million parasites / ml for each day respectively, while P-Y media gave the highest mean of growth rat after (8 and 10) days of cultivation (307.16 ± 1.67) and (303.5 ± 4.96) million parasites / ml for each day respectively. P-Y medium showed the maximal percentage of viability after (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10) days of cultivation (99.76 ± 0.5) %, (98.30 ± 0.17) %, (96.1 ± 0.1) %, (92.5 ± 0.52) % and (87.26 ± 0.05) % for each day respectively.
... Show MoreVisceral leishmaniosis is one of the most fatal old-world neglected disease with estimated 90 thousand worldwide cases emerge each year. In Iraq, the cutaneous and visceral form are endemic but available chemotherapies are either toxic with diverse side effects, expensive available drugs or parasite …
Abstract
Lack of safe available non-resistant treatment for visceral leishmaniasis (Kala-azar) keeps limiting the complete cure of this disease ,drugs that have toxic side effects or lack of effectiveness have led to disease relapse ,all these factors have lightened the way to the search for imperative drugs from natural resources that have been shown to have antileishmanial activity through literature survey
. In the present study, the comparative in vitro anti-leishmania activity of various fractions of Osteospermum ecklonis aerial parts fractions have been evaluated. Extracts were prepared through maceration and Soxhlet apparatus using 85% meth
... Show MoreAbortion is categorized as the termination of conception caused by the failure or removal of the embryo from the uterus before the conclusion of pregnancy. Microorganisms and genetic factors are two of the many factors associated with abortion. Cytomegalovirus is a widespread congenital virus infection pathogen that affects a wide variety of people. The prothrombin gene is one of the essential causes that trigger blood clotting and the function of abortion women, therefore the aim of the study is to detect and associate Cytomegalovirus and prothrombin gene mutation (Gene ID: 14061 in NCBI) with abortion through genetic and immunological methods. Five ml of whole blood was collected from an intravenous puncture and divided into two tubes,
... Show MoreAbstract Background: Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) is an angioproliferative neoplastic disorder that occurs in different epidemiological forms. Human Herpesvirus type 8 (HHV-8) is established as a causative agent of KS that has been mentioned in textbooks and literature. In the last two decades, KS cases were up searched through many Iraqi medical researches which have been published, but unfortunately, none of which had confirmed this association. Objectives: To assess the association of latent nuclear antigen-1(LANA-1) of HHV-8 among KS patients with clinicopathological parameters and to evaluate if this procedure is valuable for diagnosing this disease through the first immunohistochemical study in Iraq. Methods: This is a clinico-immunohis
... Show MoreBACKGROUND: Sickle cell nephropathy, a heterogeneous group of renal abnormalities resulting from complex interactions of sickle cell disease (SCD)-related factors and non-SCD phenotype characteristics, is associated with an increased risk for morbidity and mortality. AIMS: The aims of this study were to determine the frequency of microalbuminuria (MA) among pediatric patients with SCD and to determine risk factors for MA among those patients. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A case–control study was carried out on 120 patients with SCD, 2–18 years old, registered at Basrah Center for Hereditary Blood Diseases, and 132 age-and sex-matched healthy children were included as a control group. Investigations included complete blood panel, blood urea, se
... Show MoreBackground BK polyomavirus is one of the common post-transplant viral infections, affecting ∼15% of renal transplantation recipients (RTR), leading to graft loss in more than half of cases. Objectives Study the rate of detection of BK virus (BKV) in RTRs in Pap-stained urine cytology specimens. Methods A single center study, urine samples were collected from 99 RTR patients, with 15 Living Donors (LD) and 15 patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) were taken as controls. And urine cytology smears were Pap stained for detection of decoy cells (DCs). Results Out of the 99 RTRs, 27 (27.3%) patients were decoy positive, 8 out of these 27 patients had uncommon DCs, and 5 out of these 27 cytology positive patients (18.5%) had biopsy proven B
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