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.
In the present study, the aim was made to identify the relationship between thyroid autoimmunity (TAI) and female infertility. The study was performed on 30 infertile women and 22 age-matched healthy fertile control age (33 ± 5 years). Overall, serum prolactin (PRL), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) assay is the key test for the diagnosis and management of hypo and hyperthyroidism. Anti-TPO Ab and anti-TG Ab were measured. The mean ± SE of serum PRL (31.080 ± 3.06) ng/ml was significantly (P<0.05) higher in infertile group compared with control (16.191±1.36) ng/ml. Serum TSH was significantly (P<0.05) higher in infertile group (5.689 ± 1.12) µIU/ml compared to control group (2.282 ± 0.18) µIU/ml. The prevalence of positive
... Show MoreIn this article, the types of renewable energies and the environmental effects of consuming these energies are studied. Energy is one of the things necessary for economic and social development and improving the quality of life, and the presence of continuous and sustainable economic energy is essential for any economic development and growth. Humankind has been aware of renewable energies such as biomass and geothermal energy for a long time and has used these energies as heat sources for shelter. With the beginning of the extraction of fossil fuels such as oil and coal and unlimited access to these products, the use of renewable energy sources, except in remote places and forest areas, has become limited and forgotten. Currently in Iraq,
... Show MoreThis research aims to identify the role of radio advertising in promoting purchasing decisions of Iraqi audiences, especially that the placement of the announcement through the Iraqi radio stations dealt with a little of Iraqi researchers, and the goal of the research to know the extent of public exposure to the radio advertising through Iraqi radio and patterns of exposure,disclosure of the reasons for public hearing of the radio advertisement, identifying the most important factors influencing the decision to buy in the radio advertisement, this research is descriptive in terms of type as the researcher used the survey method,questionnaire and scale for data and information collection, the sample was selected according to the purp
... Show MoreThe micronucleated erythrocytes in fish was used to detect water pollution by genotoxic agents. Fish belonging to different species were collected from three regions from Baghdad during three months (December/2000,January and February/2001 ).The micronucleated erythrocytes was observed in all the specimens. It was concluded that the genotoxic activity' in one region was less than in die other two regions.?
Antimicrobial and antiyeast activity of ethanolic and aqueous extract of grape fruit seed (Citrus paradise ; Rutaceaa) was examined against 10 bacterial and 2 yeast strains. The level of the antimicrobial effects was established using an in vitro agar assay and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). In general ethanolic extract were more effective on gram positive bacteria than gram negative bacteria and strongest antimicrobial effect against Streptococcus pyogenes and Salmonella entritidis. Other tested bacteria and yeasts were sensitive to extract ranging from 4 to 16 mg/ml and more.
Nano crystalline copper sulphide (Cu2S) thin films pure and 3% Bi doped were deposited on glass substrate by thermal evaporation technique of thickness 400±20 nm under a vacuum of ~ 2 × 10− 5 mbar to study the influence of annealing temperatures ( as-deposited, and 573) K on structural, surface morphology and optical properties of (Cu2S and Cu2S:3%Bi). (XRD) X-ray diffraction analysis showed (Cu2S and Cu2S:3%Bi) films before and after annealing are polycrystalline and hexagonal structure. AFM measurement approves that (Cu2S and Cu2S:3%Bi) films were Nano crystalline with grain size of (105.05-158.12) nm. The optical properties exhibits good optical absorption for Cu2S:3%Bi films. Decreased of optical band gap from 2.25 to 2 eV after dop
... Show MoreRecently, Qatar, a well-known oil production country, has been convinced as a successful case in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) as a smaller economy. This paper aims to investigate how FDI inflows affect Qatar’s business cycles. Time series data was selected from 1990 to 2010 as available. The VAR Impulse Responses and the Granger Causality test were mainly employed by using Eviews. The derived result shows that the FDI inflows and the economic growth in Qatar interact with each other in a relatively long term.
Zerumbone (ZER), a natural compound has been extracted from Zingiber zerumbet with known pharmacological activities. The aim was to determine the anti-human Burkitt’s lymphoma (Raji) cell effect of ZER. The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5,-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was used to determine cytotoxic effect while the Annexin-V-fluorescein isothiocyanate/propidium iodide-PI flow cytometric assays was used to determine apoptotic effect of ZER on the human Burkitt’s lymphoma (Raji) cell (ATCC CCL-86) cell line. The expressions of Bax, Bcl-2, and c-Myc genes were determined via real-time PCR. ZER suppressed the proliferation of Raji cells with a 48 h IC50 value of 5.1 μg/mL. Treated Raji cells also underwen
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