Objective: To Evaluate the Roley of Cytotoxic T-Lymphocytek antigen 4 Polymorphism and soluble immune checkpoint level (PD-1,PDL-1 and CTLA-4 ) in SARS-Cov-2 patients. Methods: Fromt October 2020 to April 2021, the currentk study was conducted in Baghdad-Iraq. Ninety patients with Confirmatory SARS-Cov-2 by PCR were inclusion in the study, and they were seeking treatment at Medical City in Baghdad's Teaching Hospital (BTH). Patients with SARS-Cov-2 were divided into two groups: those with Sever SARS-Cov-2 symptom and those with mild - moderate SARS-Cov-2 symptoms (cross sectional study. Patients with another form of autoimmune illness, malignant, diabetes, under the age of 18 and pregnant women were excluded. Results: Data regarding serum level of CTLA-4f, PD-1j and PD-L1 in mild-moderate and severe covid19 patients were found to be non-normally distributed. The median serum level of CTLA-4, PD-1 and PD-L1 mild-moderate groups were much lower than that of severe cases with highly significant differences. Age demonstrated a positive significant correlation with each of CTLA-4 (r= 0.281, p= 0.007), PD-1 (r= 0.282, p= 0.007) and PD-L1 (r= 0.219, p= 0.039). Soluble CTLA-4 had a positive significant correlation with each of PD-1 (r=0.714, p<0.001) and PD-L1 (r= 0.602, p<0.001). Allele specific of CTLA-4(+49G/A) PCR was used for gene amplification and genotyping under Gel electrophoresis of PCR products revealed that this SNP had three genotypes in mild/moderate and severe cases of COVID-19. These were GG, GA and AA. The wild homozygous genotype (AA) was more frequent among severe group than mild-moderate group with a significant difference. Conclusion: Soluble Immune checkpoint markers are significantly increased in patients with covoid-19 in severe cases and soluble immune checkpoint markers are positively significant correlation with age and The genotyping CTLA-4(+49G/A) gene SNP (AG and GG by allele specific PCR) was significantly higher in mild-moderate covid-19 cases in which may indicate that this SNP mostly protective with good prognosis. Keywords: Immune checkpoint, CTLA-4, PD1, PDL-1 and COVID-19.
Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging zoonotic disease caused by the new respiratory virus SARS-CoV2. It has a tropism in the lung tissues where excess target receptors exist. Periostin plays a role in subepithelial fibrosis associated with bronchial asthma. Since the Coronavirus's target is the human respiratory system, Periostin has been recently described as a valuable new biomarker in the diagnosis and evaluation of disease in patients with COVID-19 lung involvement. Objectives: To assess the level of Periostin in the serum of COVID-19 patients and to correlate its role in disease severity and prognosis. Subjects and Methods: Periostin serum levels were measured for 63 patients attending three main COVID
... Show MoreThe phagocytic activity of peritoneal and blood cells counts with neutrophils and monocytes were evaluated in albino mice treated wtth two antigen preparations (A and B) from group A streptococci (GAS). Antigen A included water bathed bacteria at 70 °C for 60 minutes, while in Antigen B the bacteria was autoclaved at 121° C for 15 minutes. The animals were treated with 12 intraperitoneal doses of the antigens with intervals of three days (36 days). The 12th dose was a challenge dose (live bacteria). The first three doses of Antigen A increased the phagocytic index (PI) to a range of 76.46-78.69%, then a gradual decreased percentage was observed, especially at the challenge dose (PI=6.42%). The count of neutrophils and monocytes fol
... Show MoreThis study aims to identify the impact of social support on breast cancer patients’ psychological rigidity using a sample in Ramallah and al-Bireh. A descriptive correlative approach was adopted to fulfill the goals of the study and a questionnaire consisted of two criteria: social support and psychological rigidity, which was adopted as a tool for data collection for the study. In order to achieve the goals of the study, the researcher selected a convenient sample that consisted of 123 female breast cancer patients in Ramallah and al-Bireh. This sample represented 50% of the original patient population. The study showed that the average estimated percentage of social support and psychological rigidity for women with breast cancer, in
... Show MoreObjectives: With the advent of ongoing novel modalities toward the treatment of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)/NEU - positive malignancies, the serious side effects of chemoradiotherapy have been minimized. Hence, this study was conducted to identify the patterns of immunohistochemical expression of the promising therapeutic target (HER2/NEU) among Iraqi patients with medulloblastoma in an attempt to provide basic histological information’s that would help in future clinical researches.Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, 42 formalin - fixed paraffin - embedded tissue blocks represent cases of surgically removed medulloblastomas were retrieved from the archived materials in a specialized surgical ho
... Show MoreThis study aimed to identify the perceived mental image of volunteering, and its relationship to volunteer motivation among a sample of Al-Quds Open University students, as well as to identify the differences in the perceived mental image of volunteering due to variables (gender, year of study, place of residence, college). The researcher has used relational descriptive approach. The researcher has used two questionnaires, the first was used to measure the perceptive mental image of volunteering, and the second to measure the motivation towards volunteering, and the study population may consist of all students of Al-Quds Open University Hebron Branch during the first semester of the academic year 2021/2020 and their number (3462)Male and
... Show MoreThe present study introduces description of a new species of class Ostracoda genus Hemicypris Sars, 1903. External morphological characters particularly shape, size and structure of left and right valves of carapace and body appendages were discussed and illustrated. Locality and date of collection were given.
Background: Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disease of the neuromuscular junction that results in fluctuating muscle weakness as well as significant fatigue. Disease exacerbation is a critical condition, and the predisposing factors for it need to be identified to improve preventive measures.
Objectives: Our study aims to determine the predisposing factors for myasthenia gravis exacerbations in a group of Iraqi patients.
Subjects and Methods: A total number of 30 myasthenia gravis patients were admitted to the hospital with an exacerbation of their symptoms, determined as the development of functional disability, dysphagia, or respiratory fai
... Show MoreThe diagnosis of acute appendicitis (AA) sometimes is illusive and the accompanying clinical and laboratory manifestations cannot be used for definitive diagnosis. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in detection of AA. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that included a total of 80 adult patients with AA and 62 age- and gender-matched patients with abdominal pain due to causes other than AA. Three milliliter of peripheral blood were collected from each participant. The NLR was calculated by dividing the absolute neutrophil count by the absolute lymphocyte count. Receiver operating characteristic curve was used to assess the diagnostic value of NLR in detection
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