The current study was conducted in the period extending from November 2018 to October 2019 and designed as a case-control study and aimed to assess the seroprevalence of HCMV. However, a total number of 91serum specimens were collected to fulfill this purpose from females (71 breast cancer patients, and control group of 20 females) attending Al-Amal hospital for cancer management and Baghdad teaching hospital and the practical part was performed in College of Science, University of Baghdad. The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee at the Department of Biology (Reference: BEC/0220/0011). The immunological part for evaluation of seroprevalence of HCMV was accomplished by ELISA technique which revealed that anti-HCMV IgG was sco

Background Several studies have addressed the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii), among Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients in different countries, and the potential association between the infection and PD; the results of these studies were conflicting. The study aims to investigate the prevalence of Toxoplasma infection among sample of Iraqi PD patients. Also, to examine the potential association of age, PD duration, gender, smoking habit, zone of residence and family history of PD, with the prevalence of Toxoplasma infection in PD patients.

Patients and Methods Seventy-four PD patients attaining Dr. Saad Al-Witry Neuroscience Hospital in Baghdad/ Ir

Since its discovery in December 2019, corona virus was outbreak worldwide with very rapid rate, so it described by WHO as pandemic. It associated with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome, and can enter to cells through Angiotensin Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE 2) receptor which play an important role as regulator for blood pressure. Hypertension is a potential risk factor for sever acute respiratory syndrome COVID-19, and associated with high mortality rate as shown in many epidemiological studies. Moreover, specific antihypertensive medications that infected patients were receiving are not known; only data about renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) are available.  

Background:SARS-CoV-2 infection has caused a global pandemic that continues to negatively impact human health. A large group of microbial domains including bacteria co-evolved and interacted in complex molecular pathogenesis along with SARS-CoV-2. Evidence suggests that periodontal disease bacteria are involved in COVID-19, and are associated with chronic inflammatory systemic diseases. This study was performed to investigate the association between bacterial loads of Porphyromonas gingivalis and pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Fifty patients with confirmed COVID-19 by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, their age ranges between 20-76 years, and 35 healthy volunteers (matched accordingly with age and sex to th

Obesity-related deaths continue to rise, and thus losing weight in overweight and obese patients is critical to prevent complications. Anredera cordifolia (Ten,) Steenis, species of succulent plant of the genus Basellaceae, is widely used in herbal medicine to decrease body weight. This study evaluated the potential benefits of Anredera cordifolia ethanol extract to reduce body weight in high-fat diet-induced obesity rat model. This was an experimental with post-test only control group design study involving 36 obese rats. They were divided into two groups: three control groups (K1, K2, K3) and three treatment groups (P1, P2, P3). All the groups were induced with high-fat diet, except K1 control group that received a standard di

Toxicity with advanced glycation end products (AGEs) is a major problem in uremic patients. Treatment with peritoneal dialysis (PD) exacerbates AGE formation as a result of bioincompatibility of the conventional peritoneal dialysis fluid (PDF). The presence of glucose degradation products (GDPs) in PDF is the main cause of its bioincompatibility. Carnosine is an endogenous dipeptide with a powerful antiglycation/antioxidant activity. In an attempt to improve PDF biocompatibility, we evaluated the effect of carnosine in human peritoneal mesothelial cells (HPMC) incubated with PDF or GDPs in vitro. Methods: HPMC were incubated for short or prolonged time with PDF in the presence or absence of carnosine. Similarly, HPMC were incubated in the s

This study aimed to identify the histological changes of mosquito fish (Gambusia affinis) exposed to vydate pesticide. (48) female fishes were collected from local markets and also from the stream that surround Baghdad university campus at Al-jadyria, fishes divided into (4) groups and each group consist of 12 fish: T1(exposed to 0.0000001 mg/L),T2 (exposed to 0.0000002 mg/L ) and T3 (exposed to 0.000001 mg /L) of vydate pesticide for (8) weeks. As well as a control group. Fishes were dissected for histological preparations after each (2,4,6,8) weeks of exposure time. Gills were fixed by Bouin’s fluid and stained with Hematoxylin and eosin. Histological study showed that the structure of gill in a control group consists of primary and se

This study investigates the influence of fear, refuge, and migration in a predator–prey model, where the interactions between the species follow an asymmetric function response. In contrast to some other findings, we propose that prey develop an anti-predator response in response to a concentration of predators, which in turn increases the fear factor of the predators. The conditions under which all ecologically meaningful equilibrium points exist are discussed in detail. The local and global dynamics of the model are determined at all equilibrium points. The model admits several interesting results by changing the rate of fear of predators and predator aggregate sensitivity. Numerical simulations have been performed to verify our theoret

Celery and coriander are vastly applied in modern medicine and traditionally because various medicinal and nutritional benefits depend on their medicinal characteristics. The study aimed to detect, isolate and compare extracts contents of phenolic acids (caffeic and p-coumaric acids) in ethyl acetate fraction of fresh and dry aerial parts of coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) and celery (Apium graveolens L.) of the Apiaceae family. The extraction of these constituents was carried out by maceration method using 70% ethanol and fractionation was done by using petroleum ether, and ethyl acetate. The existence of caffeic and p-coumaric acids in aerial part extracts of two plants was identified by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and high-

The present study was conducted to estimate the incidence, clinical findings, cytological and histopathological characteristics of spontaneously occurring skin neoplasms in dogs. A total of 40 grossly suspected cases of cutaneous and subcutaneous tumors were gathered during the period from July 2016 to August 2018 from male and female dogs in Baghdad city. Dogs with skin neoplasia revealed various clinical signs, and their ages were older than 5 years to 15 years. German shepherd 30% followed by Terrier dogs 25% were more influenced than other breeds. Concerning tumor features, the majority of neoplasms had solitary lesion 70%, regular shapes 65% with black color 55%. The tumors frequently occurred on fore-limbs and abdomen, and 80% of them