Human beta-defenses (hBDs) are antimicrobial peptides involved in innate immune protection, and their association with the risk of respiratory allergy has been proposed. Therefore, this study sought to evaluate this association in allergic rhinitis (AR) and asthma (AS) of Iraqi patients. A case-control study was conducted to investigate serum levels of hBD1, hBD2, hBD3, and hBD4 in 52 AR and 60 AS patients and 61 healthy controls (HC). The hBDs were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. Results revealed that median levels of hBD1, hBD2, and hBD3 were significantly elevated in the serum of AR and AS patients compared with HC (p < 0.01). Levels of hBD4 were also elevated in AR and AS patients but the differen

Allergic asthma is a type of asthma that provokes symptoms when an individual is exposed to certain triggers, such as pollen, animal sources of allergens, and other various types of allergens. These allergens cause an immune response that influences lungs and leads to difficulties in breathing.  The current study is performed to estimate the concentrations of immunoglobulin E (IgE) and interleukin-13 (IL-13), tested by using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and the numbers of eosinophils, calculated by using hematological analyzers, in the blood of patients with allergic asthma.  A total of 150 patients and 50 healthy individuals were randomly selected for the study. The results revealed that IgE and IL-1

    This study aimed to determine the effects of age, gender, and allergen type on serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels in asthma (AS) and allergic rhinitis (AR) patients. Sixty AS patients, 52 AR patients, and 61 controls were enrolled in the study. Sera of participants were assessed for total IgE level and specific IgE antibody against four allergen types (animal dander, grasses, mites, and molds). The results revealed that median level of total IgE was significantly increased in AS (218.9 IU/mL; p-value < 0.001) and AR (244.3 IU/mL; p-value < 0.001) patients compared to controls (167.1 IU/mL), while, there was no significant difference between AS and AR patients (p-value = 0.270). Logistic regression

Background: Infectious mononucleosis (IM) is a lymphoproliferative disease caused primarily by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. The initial viral infection by EBV occurs in B lymphocytes and is followed by an extensive proliferation of T lymphocytes. Previous studies on immunity to EBV (including IM) have mainly focused on activation of peripheral blood T cells, which are responsible for the lymphocytosis in blood during acute IM.
Patients and Methods: Indirect immunofluorescence technique analysis was performed to detect the percentage of CD3, CD4, CD8, CD19, and CD56 positive lymphocytes.
Results: Our results on the phenotype of T cells in samples from patients with infectious mononucleosis sh

T-cell activation and alteration of cytokine levels are involved in the pathogenesis of asthma. However, the profile of circulating T-lymphocyte subsets and related cytokines during asthmatic attacks is still unclear. We compared the serum concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines Interleukine-18( IL-18) and Interleukine-12(IL-12), T-helper 2 (Th2) cytokine Interleukine-13(IL-13 ) and Immunoglobuline-E ( IgE) in 27 asthmatic children and 21 sex and age matched healthy control subjects. Serum cytokines and IgE concentrations were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Serum IL-13 , IL-18 and IgE concentrations were significantly higher in asthmatic patients than normal control subjects ( IL-13: median 9.73 versus 4.43 pg/ml, P&l

The neutrophil/ lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR) have the potential to be inflammatory markers that reflect the activity of many inflammatory diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the NLR and PLR as potential markers of disease activity in patients with ankylosing spondylitis.

Inhaled corticosteroids are the most effective controllers of asthma, although asthmatics vary in their response. FKBP51 is a major component of the glucocorticoid receptor which regulates its responses to corticosteroids. Therefore, the present study aims to identify the role of FKBP5 gene polymorphism in asthma susceptibility and corticosteroid resistance.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic systemic inflammatory disease. Inflammation leads to joint damage and increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a measure of inflammation in many diseases. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the usefulness of NLR to detect inflammation in RA, and its correlation to RA disease activity indices and some hematological parameters. A cross-sectional study involving 24 patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who are using MTX participated in this study. All patients were clinically evaluated using disease activity score of 28 joints (DAS28) and simplified disease activity index (SDAI), whereas functional disability was assessed by health assessment questionnaire di

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of airways mediated by T-helper 2 (Th2) cells involving complex signaling pathways. Although resveratrol has previously been shown to attenuate allergic asthma, the role of miRNA in this process has not been studied. We investigated the effect of resveratrol on ovalbumin-induced experimental allergic asthma in mice. To that end, BALB/c mice were immunized with ovalbumin (OVA) intraperitoneally followed by oral gavage of vehicle (OVA-veh) or resveratrol (100 mg/kg body) (OVA-res). On day 7, the experimental groups received intranasal challenge of OVA followed by 7 days of additional oral gavage of vehicle or resveratrol. At day 15, all mice were euthanized and bronchioalveolar fluid (BALF), se

Background: Renal disease results in significant disorder of hemostasis (bleeding diathesis or
hypercoagulable state).
Objectives: This study is to determine the changes in some hemostasis parameters in patients with
chronic renal failure and identify the effect of dialysis on these changes.
Patients and Methods: seventy five patients with end stage chronic renal failure were collected from
Baghdad hospital, a full detailed history and clinical examination were performed, 50 patients were on
maintenance weekly hemodialysis, and 25 patients were without dialysis.
Result: Bleeding time was significantly higher in patients with chronic renal failure who didn’t need
any type of dialysis, positive D-Dimer test. In so