BACKGROUND: Diffuse astrocytomas constitute the largest group of primary malignant human intracranial tumours. They are classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) into three histological malignancy grades: diffuse astrocytomas (grade II), anaplastic astrocytomas (grade III) and glioblastoma (grade IV) based on histopathological features such as cellular atypia, mitotic activity, necrosis and microvascular proliferation. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a 170-kDa transmembrane tyrosine kinase receptor expressed in a variety of normal and malignant cells regulating critical cellular processes. When activated, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) triggers several signalling cascades leading to increased proliferation and angiogenesis and decreased apoptosis and hence associated with aggressive progression of the tumour. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) level is known to be a strong indicator associated with the aggressive behaviour of the tumour and acts as a prognostic factor for evaluating the survival rate. AIM: To evaluate the expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in different grades of astrocytoma. MATERIAL AND METHODS: formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded astrocytic tumours of 44 patients were collected from the archival material of pathology department of Ghazi Al Hariri Teaching Hospital during the period from June to December 2018. Hematoxylin and eosin-stained sections were used to characterise the tumours histologically based on cellularity, nuclear hyperchromasia, polymorphism, mitotic activity, vascular proliferation and necrosis with or without pseudopallisading of tumour cells. Diagnosis and grading of astrocytic tumours in this study were made according to WHO criteria (2016). Using a monoclonal antibody to the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and immunohistochemical analysis, the expression and distribution of epidermal growth factor receptor in astrocytic tumours were examined. RESULTS: The study included 1 case pilocytic astrocytoma (grade I), 20 cases diffuse astrocytoma (grade II), 5 cases anaplastic astrocytoma (grade III) and 18 cases of glioblastoma (grade IV). Expression of EGFR was found in 38.88% of the glioblastoma samples (grade IV). However, none of the astrocytomas of WHO grades I, II and III showed immunoreactivity for EGFR protein. Different patterns of immunoreactive cells and significant intratumor heterogeneity of EGFR expression were observed in glioblastomas. CONCLUSION: The immunohistochemical expression of Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) was restricted only to high-grade astrocytic tumours, namely glioblastoma, thus may use to predict glioblastoma.
Fever is a common illness in the pediatric age group ,the causes could be viral ,bacterial and fungal , this study was focused on bacterial pathogens as gram positive like Staphylococci, coagulase positive or negative ,Streptococci and gram negative like E-coli , Klebsialla ,Proteus, Pseudomonas, Burkhoderia , Acinetobacter and others like Pusturella ,E-alkalescendiaper, Haemophillus influenza and yeast like candida . Four thousand and seventy eight blood samples (4078)were collected in a period between January 2011 and the end of May 2012 at the child welfare hospital ,all the samples were cultured on suitable culture media and then biochemical tests were done using API-E 20 and sugar fermentation tests ,sensitivity
... Show MoreBackground: Ambulatory peritoneal dialysis
introduced by Popvich et al (13) in 1978 , consists of a
four to five hours lavage of peritoneal cavity with 2000
ml of glucose solution .It remains a useful method for
treating patients with end stage renal failure till renal
transplantation becomes possible.
Objectives: The aim of the study is to evaluate the
value of cytological changes of mesothelial cells in
dialysate patients.
Methods: Within one year period, 32 cytological
peritoneal fluid samples were collected from patients
with end stage renal failure regardless of the underlying
causes, admitted to the dialyzing unit in Kadimya
Teaching Hospital. Smears were prepared and fixed in
95 % ethyl al
The influx of data in bioinformatics is primarily in the form of DNA, RNA, and protein sequences. This condition places a significant burden on scientists and computers. Some genomics studies depend on clustering techniques to group similarly expressed genes into one cluster. Clustering is a type of unsupervised learning that can be used to divide unknown cluster data into clusters. The k-means and fuzzy c-means (FCM) algorithms are examples of algorithms that can be used for clustering. Consequently, clustering is a common approach that divides an input space into several homogeneous zones; it can be achieved using a variety of algorithms. This study used three models to cluster a brain tumor dataset. The first model uses FCM, whic
... Show MoreThe current study aims to identify the artistic expression as well as the aspects of artistic expression by the painting among the kindergarten children. In order to fulfill the research's goals, a sample of (400) children were chosen randomly from 19 public kindergartens of 6 directorates at Al-Rusafa and Al-Karkh in Baghdad city. The children were asked to draw a particular view. The researcher has adopted Al-Hamedawi scale (2009) consisted of (16) items, which was exposed to group of (25) experts in psychology, education, measurement and evaluation, artistic education by painting and plastics to show the items reliability. As the researcher applied T-test for 
... Show MoreAbstract A descriptive study was conducted in Al-Bashir teaching hospital in Amman city from 15th May 2004 to 15th August 2004 , in order to "Assess the adult asthmatic patients’ quality of life (QOL). Objective: This study aimed at identifying the domains of (Environmental, Physical, Daily Living Activity, Drug and Medication, Psychological , and Social), Methodology : A Purposive (Non-Probability) sample of (100) adult asthmatic patients visited the emergency department and outpatient clinic of chest department in Al-bashir hospital .A Questionnaire was constructed for the purpose of the study, and compris
This study included 46 patients with liver hydatid cyst diagnosed clinically and surgically, control group consist of 22 were naïve from infection had been confirmed by specialist. The patients were divided according to the size of the cysts into more and less than 5 cm diameter size, were 33 and 13 respectively. Also it divided into primary and secondary hydatid cyst infection which were 30 and 16 respectively. The role of immunological response against hydatid cyst parasite, showed a significant increased in humoral immunoglobulins (IgG, IgA, IgM and IgE) which were significantly higher in the hydatid cyst infection than control. Also significant increased in immunoglobulins in secondary infection than primary infection, beside significa
... Show MoreVisceral leishmaniasis (VL) or kala-azar is one of the worlds most neglected tropical diseases in mortality and fourth in morbidity, rK39 dipstick was used to diagnose the suspected infected patients as cheapest simple technique which can differentiate recent from chronic infection, for disease out-coming, naïve T-lymphocyte cells should be differentiated into pathogen-specific immunity responses, such as T-helper 1(Th-1) or (Th-2). HLA-G is a special protein defined as nonclassical HLA class I molecule can suppress the immune system through prevention of T-cell function by foul all T-cell mechanisms. So, this study aimed to detect and evaluate the level of sHLA-G in the sera of patients infected with VL. The results showed that there was
... Show MoreBackground: Lumbar disc degeneration (LDD) is a common musculoskeletal disorder that frequently causes low back pain (LBP). In addition to the discomfort of lower back pain, it can accompany pain in one or both legs. The lumbar spine and sacrum, consisting of five vertebrae and one bone, determine the spine's balance. Microelements are essential in bone metabolism and are associated with the prevention of osteoporosis and the alleviation of musculoskeletal pain. Objectives: To examine the correlation between lumbar spinal surgery and the concentrations of microelements, namely zinc and copper. Methods: A case-control study was conducted in Ghazi Al-Hariri Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, during the period from October 2023 to January 2024
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