Background: Cystinosis is a rare autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disease with high morbidity and mortality. It is caused by mutations in the CTNS gene that encodes the cystine transporter, cystinosin, which leads to lysosomal cystine accumulation. It is the major cause of inherited Fanconi syndrome, and should be suspected in young children with failure to thrive and signs of renal proximal tubular damage. The diagnosis can be missed in infants, because not all signs of renal Fanconi syndrome are present during the first months of life. Elevated white blood cell cystine content is the cornerstone of the diagnosis. Since chitotriosidase (CHIT1 or chitinase-1) is mainly produced by activated macrophages both in normal and inflammatory conditions which suggest that cystinosis should be included within the differential diagnosis of disorders associated with increased plasma chitotriosidase activity. This study is aimed to estimate serum chitotriosidase level, as a screening marker and therapeutic monitor for cystinosis disease in Iraqi children with cystinosis.
Subjects and Methods: The present study is a case-control study that included samples of 30 children with nephropathic cystinosis, compared to 25 healthy control children from those attending at The Genetic Rare Diseases Center / AL-Emamain AL-Kadhimain Teaching Hospital, Baghdad-Iraq.
Results: Our results reported that cystinotic children had a marked elevation of serum chitotriosidase activity, compared to age-matched healthy children, besides a significant associated with leukocyte-cystine content for cystinotic patients.
CHT1 as a Novel Biomarker
Conclusion: Estimation of serum chitotriosidase activity might aid in monitoring the therapeutic benefits of cysteamine therapy, as well as the prognosis of the disease when WBC cystine assessment is not available.
Key Words: Cystinosis, Cysteamine, Chitotriosidase.
Objectives: Assessment of glycodelin (GD) as a marker for unruptured ectopic pregnancy (EP) in the first trimester of pregnancy. Materials and Methods: This case-control study was conducted during June 2016 to May 2017 in the Obstetrics and Gynecological Department of Baghdad University at Baghdad teaching hospital/medical city complex. In this study, 100 pregnant women in their first trimester of pregnancy were included after clinical and ultrasonic findings. Results: Based on the results, GD levels in EP were significantly lower than those with normal intrauterine pregnancy (1.58 ± 1.18 vs. 30.1 ± 11.9). In addition, using receiver operator curve analysis, the cut-off GD level of 9.5 and less had acceptable validity results (100
... Show MoreThis paper presents a fuzzy logic controller for a two-tank level control system, which is a process with a dead time. The fuzzy controller is a proportional-integral (PI-like) fuzzy controller which is suitable for steady state behavior of the system. Transient behavior of the system was improved without the need for a derivative action by suitable change in the rule base of the controller. Simulation results showed the step response of the two-tank level control system when this controller was used to control this plant and the effect of the dead time on the response of the system.
The current study introduces a novel technique to handle electrochemical localized corrosion in certain limited regions rather than applying comprehensive cathodic protection (CP) treatment. An impressed current cathodic protection cell (ICCPC) was fabricated and firmly installed on the middle of a steel structure surface to deter localized corrosion in fixed or mobile steel structures. The designed ICCPC comprises three essential parts: an anode, a cathode, and an artificial electrolyte. The latter was developed to mimic the function of the natural electrolyte in CP. A proportional-integrated-derivative (PID) controller was designed to stabilize this potential below the ICCPC at a cathodic potential of −850 mV, which is crucial for prote
... Show MoreThe study included 200 samples were collected from children under two years included (50 samples from each of Cerebrospinal fluid, Blood, Stool and Urine) from, (Central Children Hospital and Children's Protections Educational Hospital) The Iraqi Ministry of Health, the Department of Health Baghdad .the period from the first of 2015 September to the first of December 2015, Were obtained isolates bacterial subjected to the cultural, microscopic and biochemical examination and diagnosed to the species by using vitek2 system .The results showed there were contamination in 6.5% of clinical samples. The diagnosed colonies which gave pink color on the MacConkey agar, golden yellow color on the Trypton Soy agar and green color on t
... Show MoreThe research aims to identify the level of psychological burnout among the professors of Sana’a University in light of the armed conflicts in Yemen. The research sample consisted of (104) faculty members. A descriptive-analytical approach was adopted. The results of the research showed that university professors suffer from psychological burnout at a very high level in the overall score of the scale. There were no statistically significant differences in terms of gender, academic degree, teaching experience, marital status, number of family members, or salary. In light of the results, the researcher presented a number of relevant recommendations and suggestions.
Background: Normal occlusal features of primary dentition are crucial for normal development of the permanent dentition. Breastfeeding is an important factor for both general and dental health of children. Aim: The aim of the present study is to assess the impact of the breastfeeding duration on the prevalence of normal occlusal features of the primary dentition among preschool children in Baghdad. Materials and Methods: The sample was 630 Iraqi children (270- boys, 360 girls), aged 3-5 years selected from four kindergartens in Baghdad city. The study was carried out through questionnaire and clinical examination. Normal occlusal features were examined as the presence or absence of interincisive spaces (IS) and primate spaces (PS), termi
... Show MoreThis study was done to evaluate a new technique to determine the presence of methamphetamine in the hair using nano bentonite-based adsorbent as the filler of extraction column. The state of the art of this study was based on the presence of silica in the nano bentonite that was assumed can interact with methamphetamine. The hair used was treated using methanol to extract the presence of methamphetamine, then it was continued by sonicating the hair sample. Qualitative analysis using Marquish reagent was performed to confirm the presence of methamphetamine in the isolate.The hair sample that has been taken in a different period confirmed that this current developing method can be used to analyzed methamphetamine. This m
... Show More5-Fluorouracil is one of the commonly used chemotherapy drugs in anticancer therapy; unfortunately treatment with 5-FU by solely has many drawbacks low lipophilicity, low permeability, low molecular weight, and its relatively poor plasma protein binding; also a brief half-life therefore frequent administration is required to maintain the optimal therapeutic plasma level which in addition to its poor selectivity, drug resistance and limited penetration to cancer cells; leads to increased incidence of side-effects to healthy cells/tissues and low response rates. In order to minimize these drawbacks; 5-FU was chemically conjugated with pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) in a mutual prodrug moiety (S-(9H-purin-6-yl) 3-(
... Show More