Background: Differentiation between malignant and benign vertebral compression fracture is often problematic. This is precisely difficult in elderly who are predisposed to benign compression caused by osteoporosis .Establishing correct diagnosis is of great importance in determining the treatment andprognosis.A study was performed to determine which magnetic resonance imaging findings are useful in discrimination between metastatic and acute osteoporotic compression fractures of the spine. Recently MRI is being increasingly used for evaluation of these fractures.Objectives: The aim of this study is to establish the correct diagnosis of malignant and benign compression vertebral fracture by MRI to determine treatment and prognosis.Methods

Background: Infection with Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) leads to activation of T-helper cells (Th-1 and Th-2) which are involved in the synthesis and release of different cytokines which may lead to endothelial dysfunction. Objectives: To evaluate the endothelial function in patients with acute toxoplasmosis. Methods: This case-control study involved 31 patients with toxoplasmosis aged 19 - 47 years matched with 20 healthy subjects. Anti-T. gondii antibody (IgG, IgM, IgA) was determined by direct antigen-antibody reaction. Interleukin-6(IL-6), endothelin-1 (ET-1) and human malondialdehyde (MDA) serum levels were measured. Results: IgM, IgG and IgA levels were high in the infected patients compared with controls (P < 0.01). Furthermore, IL-

This study aims to characterize traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) neurophysiologically using an intramuscular fine-wire electromyography (EMG) electrode pair. EMG data were collected from an agonist-antagonist pair of tail muscles of Macaca fasicularis, pre- and post-lesion, and for a treatment and control group. The EMG signals were decomposed into multi-resolution subsets using wavelet transforms (WT), then the relative power (RP) was calculated for each individual reconstructed EMG sub-band. Linear mixed models were developed to test three hypotheses: (i) asymmetrical volitional activity of left and right side tail muscles (ii) the effect of the experimental TSCI on the frequency content of the EMG signal, (iii) and the effect

Background: Polymorphisms in the TNF-α gene affect the development and progression of rheumatoid arthritis. Objective: To investigate the associations between (-806 T/C) and (-857 T/C) SNPs with rheumatoid arthritis severity and susceptibility in a sample of Iraqi patients. Methods: A case-control study was conducted in Baghdad, Iraq. Twenty healthy controls and 63 patients confirmed to be newly diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis were included. Those are divided into two groups (patients and controls), and the patients were further subdivided into severe and mild-moderate groups. Samples from those participants were analyzed for clinical and inflammatory parameter measurements. Genotyping by the Sanger method was performed to stu

Aim: To evaluate the side effects of Tamsulosin hydrochloride in fertility of experimental rats. Materials and methods: three groups of mice were used. First and second groups were injected [intraperitoneal (I.P.)] daily for 42 with 8 and 16 µg /kg mouse body weight (kg.b.wt) of Tamsulosin hydrochloride, respectively. Third group was injected with PBS (control). Several biological and histopathological studies were conducted on rat groups. Results: Significant decrease in number, motility and viability of epididymal sperm post injection with 16 µg /kg.b.wt, while injection with 8 µg /kg.b.wt reduced significantly, percentage of viability of sperm as compared with the control group. High percentage of abnormal sperm was observed in mice t

This study compared the effects of citric acid (CA) derived from microbial fermentation using Aspergillus niger (400 mg kg-1) and natural extraction from Citrus limon (400 mg kg1) in albino mice. Parameters assessed included cytogenetic damage via the micronucleus (MN) assay, immunological response through immunoglobulin (IgA, IgG, IgM) titers, and hepatoprotective activity based on liver enzyme levels (AST, ALT, ALP) and histopathological inves tigation. Mice were divided into six groups (n=10/group) as follows: (1) negative control, (2) carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄ 0.02%), (3) lemon CA, (4) A. niger, (5) CCl₄ + lemon CA, and (6) CCl₄ + A. niger CA. The CCl4 group exhibited a significantly higher MN frequency (0.06 ± 0.008) compa

The present study aims to investigate the long-term histopathological, and physiological effects of different concentrations of a commercially available energy drink (Tiger) on liver and kidney of young mice. Sixteen Balb/c male mice,6 -week old, were divided into 4 groups (n=4). Two groups consumed the energy drink at a concentration of 28µl energy drink/ml water. One group were killed after 10 days (T1), another group were killed after 20 days (T2). Other group of mice consumed the energy drink at a final concentration of 14µl/ml for 20 days (T3). The last group was provided only with water and served as control. Mice of all groups drank around 3 ml per day. The histopathological study on liver of treated groups showed many changes s