Background: Preeclampsia (PE) is a major cause of maternal morbidity and mortality, complicating 3-14% of all pregnancies. Although the etiology remains unknown, placental hypoperfusion and diffuse endothelial cell injury are considered to be the central pathological process; many endocrinological changes have been linked to the etiology of preeclampsia including parathyroid hormone and calcium level. Objective: to compare serum parathyroid hormone and total serum calcium levels in mild and severe preeclampsia versus normal pregnancy. Patients and methods: Serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) level and total serum calcium level were measured in thirty normotensive pregnant women and thirty women with mild preeclampsia and thi

Background: Dietary intakes are critical during pregnancy, because inadequate amounts of key nutrients may compromise fetal development or maternal health. In addition to that maternal diet could be one of the methods to select the gender of the baby. The aim of the study is to correlate the level of the minerals in the mother’s blood with the gender and wellbeing of the baby after delivery.Patients and Methods: Fifty women were involved in this study with a mean age (23.92 ± 4.75), collected from the labor room during labor in the period between December 2013 and May 2014, in Baghdad teaching hospital. After taking a full history from the women, 10 ml of blood was withdrawn from them, 2ml in EDTA tubes for lead estimation and 8 ml in pl

Ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.) is a traditional plant that is widely used as a spice or folk medicine. Lambda-cyhalothrin (LCT) is a synthetic pyrethroid that is widely used to control insecticide. The present study aimed to evaluate the potential protective effect of ginger ethanolic extract (GEE) on liver toxicity experimentally induced by LCT in albino rats. The experiment involved thirty adult male rats (‎Rattus norvegicus)‎, randomly ‎allocated to ‎one of three groups (n=10/group: control group, administered distilled water orally for 12 weeks‎; ‎LCT-treated group, received 5.43 mg/kg BW ‎(1/15 LD50‎ dose calculated in this study as 81.5 mg/kg BW) orally, for 12 weeks;‎ LCT-‎GEE-treated group, received t

The purpose of this research was to investigate the beneficial effects of phosphatidylcholine in reducing changes in both lipid and protein profiles in addition to atherogenic index in adult rats with fructose-induced metabolic syndrome. Thirty-six mature Wistar Albino female rats (Rattus norvegicus) (aged 12-15 weeks and weighing 200±10 g) were divided randomly into four groups (G1, G2, G3, and G4); then variable treatments were orally administered for 62 days as follows: G1 (Control group), received distilled water; G2, treated with phosphatidylcholine (PC) orally (1 g/kg BW); G3 (Fr), orally dosed with 40% fructose and 25% fructose mixed with drinking water; G4 (Fr+PC), were also intubated with 40% fr

Alterations of trace element concentrations adversely affect biological processes and could promote carcinogenesis. Trace element deficiency or excess is implicated in the development or progression of some cancers like colorectal cancer. The aim of the present study was to compare the serum copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) concentrations in patients with colorectal cancer from Iraqi male patient with those of healthy subjects. During the period of March 2015 until august 2015, a total of 25 patients with metastatic colon cancer and 20 healthy volunteers were enrolled from the Al-Kadhimia Teaching Hospital after the diagnosis using a histopathological examination for the malignant tumor; their age was between (38-60) years. Higher levels o

To investigate the effects of losartan and enalapril on serum uric acid in hypertensive patients with metabolic syndrome, one hundred and twenty six newly diagnosed mild hypertensive patients, having markers of metabolic syndrome included  in the study. The patients were divided into two groups. Group 1 (60 patients) was given losartan (50 mg/ day) and group 2 (66 patients)  enalapril (20 mg/ day) for a duration of 2 months. A control group of seventy apparently healthy individuals were included. Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed according to diagnostic criteria of metabolic syndrome related to the American National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel III. Serum uric acid levels were measured bef

Background: The altered status of some essential trace elements observed in diabetes could have deleterious influences on the health of the diabetics. Objectives: To estimate and study the potential role of serum Selenium in type 1, type 2 diabetics and healthy subjects; and its relation with lipid profile and glycemic index. Methods: A case control designed study was carried out at the National Diabetes Center (NDC) / Al-Mustansiria University; on a total of 94 participants formed of 32 type 1 diabetics, 32 type 2 diabetics and 30 healthy control participants. Data collected about age, sex and BMI; also, blood samples examined for FPG, HbA1C, serum total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, non-HDL cholesterol, serum triglyceride and sera were

Methotrexate (MTX) was used for treatment of malignancies and now is widely used in treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. In this research the evaluation of the effects of MTX on some liver enzymes and lipid profile was studied. Twenty four adult female mice divided into three groups (8 mice each). The first two groups were treated with MTX while the third group was used as a control. MTX was intraperitoneally given at 50 µg/ml and 75 µg/ml to the first and second groups respectively for 35 days ,whereas the control group was intraperitoneally injected with normal saline. The results showed a significant (p<0.05) increase in serum levels of glutamic oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT) , glutamic pyruric transaminase (GPT), Alkaline pho

Pseudoephedrine (PSE) or (Sudafed) is one of the sympathomimetic group of drugs (ephedrine, PSE and amphetamines) which effects cardiovascular system, respiratory system, and gastrointestinal tract. However, only little researches had supported its effect on solid abdominal organs. This study aims to investigate the effects of different doses of Sudafed in the liver and kidney of albino mice. The current study included 18 albino mice grouped into 2 groups: control (3 mice), and acute group (15 mice). The acute group was further subdivided into 5 subgroups, each subgroup of 3mice wasgiven a lonely intaperitonial injection of 0.3ml of the following conc. (500mg/kg, 250mg/kg, 125mg/kg, 62.52mg/kg, and 31.24mg/kg) for 24hrs. After the m