Background: Prolactin is a hormone, as well as a cytokine which is synthesized and secreted from the anterior pituitary gland and various extra pituitary sites including immune cells under control of a superdistal promoter that contains a single nucleotide polymorphism -1149 G/T. Rheumatoid Arthritis has been associated with increased serum prolactin levels.Objectives: To investigate the association of the extra pituitary -1149 G/T promoter polymorphism among Iraqi rheumatoid arthritis patients and prolactin levels.Methods: We tested 73 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 40 healthy individuals. The DNA samples were genotyped using the Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction fragment Length Polymorphism method and the levels of prolacti

Giardia lamblia is the worldwide most common intestinal protozoan parasite. It was indicated that Giardia is the most important agent that causes acute and chronic diarrhea in infants, young children and travelers. The aim was to detect the influence of host HLA alleles on the susceptibility to infection with G. lamblia in a sample of Iraqi patients. A total of (40) patients with giardiasis aged (14-39) years were registered. All of them were symptomatic and (40) healthy individuals matched age and sexes were included as controls. All patients were prepared to stool examination to detect G. lamblia and eliminated other pathogens, as well as human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II alleles (DRB1) typing. The most common detected alleles in pat

This study is the first investigation in Iraq dealing with genotyping of IL-4 −590 (C>T) gene, especially in Iraqi patients with asthma. We studied forty-eight blood samples collected from patients with asthma and compared with age-matched 25 healthy individuals as controls. The polymorphism results of IL-4 −590 (C>T) gene by using amplification refractory mutation system (ARMS-PCR) showed the presence of C and T alleles and three genotypes (CC, CT, and TT). Interestingly the frequency of C allele and CC genotype was higher in patients with asthma in comparison with the same allele and geno

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the possible the association between +3061 (G>A, rs1143676) missense mutation in exon 24 of the integrin α-4 subunit (ITGA-4) gene and the response to natalizumab in a sample of Iraqi multiple sclerosis patients. Methods: A sample of 59 patients with multiple sclerosis (16 males and 43 females; mean age of 32 years; age range of 15 to 52 years) receiving natalizumab for at least 12 consecutive months were involved in the study between March and August/ 2022. The sample was categorized into two groups according to their response to natalizumab treatment (responders and non-responders). Polymerase chain reaction and Sanger’s sequencing for the extracted deoxyribonucleic acid was pe

Background: Lateral cephalometric radiography is commonly used as a standard tool in orthodontic assessment and treatment planning. This study aimed to determine the tongue and surrounding space area in a sample of Iraqi adults with class I dental and skeletal pattern. Materials and methods: The study included thirty healthy subjects (15 males and 15 females) with an age ranged between 23-34 years and class I dental and skeletal pattern with no history of any sleep related disorders. The assessed cephalometric measurement included length and height of the tongue and position of hyoid bone from cervical line. Descriptive statistics were obtained for the data. Genders difference was evaluated by independent sample t-test. Results: There wer

Background: The size of the nasopharyngeal airway was believed to have an important role in the development of the dentofacial structure. This study was carried out to test the relation between the nasopharyngeal dimensions with some dento-cranial measurements in class I and II jaw relationship. Materials and Methods: This study was done on 60 subjects (30 males and 30 females) at age range 18-25 years. Cephalometric radiograph has been taken to each subject and the measurements were recorded. The sample was divided into two groups, class I skeletal relationship (15 males and 15 females) and class II skeletal relationship (15 males and 15 females). Comparisons between the different study groups were undertaken. Results: In class I skeletal

ABSTRACT Background: Generally, the facial esthetics depends on the esthetic appearance of the maxillary anterior teeth. The purposes of this study were to analyse the macro-aesthetic appearance of the face and the micro-aesthetic appearance of the maxillary anterior teeth to establish the normative values for class I normal occlusion and to detect possible gender differences. Materials and methods: The sample consisted of 120 Iraqi adults (60 males and 60 females) aged (18-23) years. Each individual was clinically examined, then with cephalostat based head position, extraoral and intraoral photographs were taken for each subject. The facial and dental measurements were measured using AutoCad program 2014. Descriptive statistics was obtaine

The role of transmembrane protease serine 2(TMPRSS2) in prostate carcinogenesis relies on overexpression of ETS transcription factors. The aim of this article was to investigate the association of TMPRSS2 polymorphism (rs12329760 (C\T)) with prostate cancer (PCa) in sample of Iraqi patients. One hundred and two individuals were involved in this study for the period from February – 2019 to February – 2020. The sample type was formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue samples (FFPE), which involved  fifty-six samples of pre-diagnosed patients with prostate cancer, aged between 48 and 86 years, and forty-six samples were found to be controls (healthy group) dependent on Prostate Gland integrity, which is the same age as in a group o