Biological drugs have an active substance that is made by a living organism or derived from a living organism. They are one of the important therapy options used in a wide range of diseases especially life-threatening diseases. Biological therapy opens new opportunities for treating different diseases for which drug therapy is minimal, but they have considerable differences in the safety consequences in comparison with non-biological drugs. The aim of the current study was to assess the post-marketing safety profile of biological drugs used in Iraqi hospitals by the analysis of the reported adverse drug reactions regarding their severity, seriousness, preventability, expectedness, and outcome. It is a retrospective study of the individual case safety reports from the Iraqi Pharmacovigilance Center/Ministry of Health. There were 446 individual case safety reports in the research, involving 899 adverse drug reactions. Rituximab was found to be the drug with the highest number of adverse drug reactions with 241 adverse drug reactions (26.81% out of total adverse drug reactions). Most of the adverse drug reactions were related to general disorders and administration site conditions (22.25%). Regarding severity of adverse drug reactions, the majority of adverse drug reactions were observed in moderate levels [Level 4 (26%), and Level 3 (18%)]. The severe adverse drug reactions in patients below 18 years age group were significantly higher compared to adults and elderly. Seriousness assessment showed that the majority of adverse drug reactions were serious (52%). Rituximab was the drug for which the highest number of serious adverse drug reactions was reported (41.28% of total serious adverse drug reactions), Most of the adverse drug reactions (66%) were probably preventable. Fatality outcome was reported for 3% of adverse drug reactions while 43% of adverse drug reactions were recovered/resolved.
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways in which many cells and cellular elements play a role. The treatment guidelines recommend theuse of a second controller drug in addition to medium doses of inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) rather than the use of high doses ICS alone in the treatment of moderate-severe persistent asthma. This study was conducted to compare the clinical efficacy and safety of three treatment regimens in Iraqi patients with moderate-severe persistent asthma.The study included three groups; each group included 15 patients. Patients were administered beclomethasone inhaler alone 1500-2000 μg/day, beclomethasone inhaler 750-1000 μg/day plus oral controlled release aminophylline tablets 450 mg/day or
... Show MoreNowadays power systems are huge networks that consist of electrical energy sources, static and lumped load components, connected over long distances by A.C. transmission lines. Voltage improvement is an important aspect of the power system. If the issue is not dealt with properly, may lead to voltage collapse. In this paper, HVDC links/bipolar connections were inserted in a power system in order to improve the voltage profile. The load flow was simulated by Electrical Transient Analyzer Program (ETAP.16) program in which Newton- Raphson method is used. The load flow simulation studies show a significant enhancement of the power system performance after applying HVDC links on Kurdistan power systems. Th
... Show MoreType 2 diabetes mellitus is often characterized by hyperglycemia as a result of increased insulin resistance in hepatic/peripheral tissues and pancreactic B-cell dysfunction. Approximately 92% of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus demonstrate insulin resistance, however hyperglycemia is always a consequence of insulin deficiency. This study was done on 120 patients newly diagnosed diabetes type 2 characterized by dyslipidemia that is increased triglycerides and decreased HDL. Hypoglycemia and weight gain are common problem with oral sulfonyl urea drugs. In this work three different oral hypoglycemic drugs repaglinide and glibenclamide (insulin secretagogues) and rosiglitazone (insulin sensitizer) were used for treatment of patients w
... Show MoreAs many expensive and invasive procedures are used for the diagnosis or follow-up of clinical conditions, the measurement of cell-free DNA is a promising, noninvasive method, which considers using blood, follicular fluid, or seminal fluid. This method is used to determine chromosomal abnormalities, genetic disorders, and indicators of some diseases such as polycystic ovary syndrome, pre-eclampsia, and some malignancies. Cell-free DNA, which are DNA fragments outside the nucleus, originates from an apoptotic process. However, to be used as a marker for the previously mentioned diseases is still under investigation. We discuss some aspects of using cell-free DNA measurements as an indicator or marker for pathological conditions.
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease, in which the etiology is not well-understood; however, interactions between environmental and genetic factors in predisposed individuals have been recognized. As a consequence, immunological alternations occur and immune cells are involved, especially T and B lymphocytes that are activated to produce different immune components. Among these components are autoantibodies that react with self-antigens aside from non-self-antigens due to the proposed theory of molecular mimicry. Accordingly, the current study was designed to examine the profile of different autoantibodies in SLE patients by using the indirect membrane based enzyme immunoassay
Ectopic growth of normal cells or debris originating from endometrium, the inner layer of female reproductive tube leads to endometriosis. The main symptoms are dyspareunia, dysmenorrhea, and sometimes chronic pelvic pain. Unfortunately, it has no cure or treatment, only symptoms relief medication or surgical removal. Endometriosis causes estrogen imbalance leading to intestinal bacterial estrobolome dysregulation and subsequent change in immune response. Our study aims to investigate the linkage between gut dysbiosis and immunological response in endometriotic mice. Balb/c mice were ovariectomized (OVX) 7 days before intraperitoneal transplantation of 2mm2 endometrial tissue from OVX
Background: Kidney failure is the leading cause of early death for diabetic patients and is regarded as the most dangerous consequence of the disease. This can only be reversed through early detection and intervention. The incidence of type 1 diabetes, which comprises 5-10 per cent of all diabetic diseases, is rising across the globe with a rate of 15 per 100,000 people per year. Methods: 90 samples were collected and used in this study. Thirty healthy children served as controls (aged 5-15 years), 30 patients with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM, aged 5-15 years) and 30 patients with type 1 diabetic nephropathy (DN), aged 5-20 years). Results: highly significant increase in Urea and Creatinine levels when compared control with DN al
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