Cytokines are signaling molecules between inflammatory cells that play a significant role in the pathogenesis of a disease. Among these cytokines are interleukins (ILs) 17A and 33, and accordingly, the current case-control study sought to investigate the role of each of the two cytokines in the risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS). Sixty-eight relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) Iraqi patients and twenty healthy individuals (control group) were enrolled. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits were used to determine serum levels of IL-17A and IL-33. Results revealed that IL-17A and IL-33 levels were significantly higher in MS patients than in controls (14.1 ± 4.5 vs. 7.5 ± 3.8 pg/mL; p < 0.001 and 65.3 ± 16.3 vs. 49.3 ± 20.0 pg/mL; p < 0.001, respectively). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis demonstrated that IL-17A was a very good predictor of MS (area under curve [AUC] = 0.869; 95% CI = 0.779 - 0.960; p < 0.001; cut-off value = 10.2 pg/mL; sensitivity = 80.8%; specificity = 75.0%). A similar prediction was presented by IL-33, but the AUC value was lower (AUC = 0.762; 95% CI = 0.63 - 0.89; p < 0.001; cut-off value = 56.4 pg/mL; sensitivity = 70.6%; specificity = 70.0%). Multinomial logistic regression analysis confirmed the significance of IL-17A and IL-33 in MS risk, and under three models of analysis, the estimated odds ratios for IL-17A (1.50, 1.49 and 1.50, respectively) and IL-33 (1.05, 1.05 and 1.06) were above 1.0. Patients stratified by gender (male and female), expanded disability status scale (EDSS: < 3 and ≥ 3) or medication (pre- and post-medication) showed no significant differences in serum levels of IL-17A and IL-33 for each stratum. However, with regard to response to medication, it was found that responding patients showed significantly higher levels of IL-33 than non-responders (70.9 ± 12.2 vs. 57.2 ± 18.2 pg/mL; p = 0.018). This difference was not observed when considering IL-17A. Pearson correlation analysis between IL-17A and IL-33 revealed that both cytokines were not significantly correlated. In conclusion, the study indicated that IL-17A and IL-33 were up-regulated in serum of MS patients, and this up-regulation was not influenced by age, gender, EDSS or medication status, but the elevated level of IL-33 was more pronounced in patients who responded to medication.
Abstract
Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational program on nurses' practices concerning therapeutic communication.
Methodology: A quasi experimental design was carried out at Karbala Center for Cardiac Diseases and Surgery, Imam Hussein Medical City and Al-Handia General Hospital for period 10th June 2017 to the 15th of August 2018.
The program and instruments were constructed and developed by the researcher to measure the purpose of the study. Purposive sample comprised of (57) nurses were divided into two groups, study and control groups. The questionnaire consisted from two parts, first part is related to nurses' demographic characteristics and second part which include practices checkl
Objectives: The study aims: (1) To determine effectiveness of instructional health education vascular access on hemodialysis patients' knowledge, (2) To find out the association between effects of instructional health education vascular access and demographic characteristics of (age, gender and educational level). Methodology: A quasi experimental study –control study design is carried out at AL-Hussein Teaching Hospital in AL-Nasiriyah City, from 3November,2015 to 2 June, 2016. A non-probability (Purposive sample) of (80) patients with vascular access devices on maintenance hemodialysis patients divided int
The corcosion behoviour of Aluminum bronze in sodium chloride solution has been studied ^tentiostatically at five temperatures in the range 293-313K.The corrosion potential shifted to more negative values with increasing temperature. The corrosion current density increased with increasing temperature. Values of Tal'el slopes and the transfer coefficients indicated hydrogen evolution reaction to occur at the cathode and mainly the dissolution at the anode.Benzotriazole (BTA) had an inhibiting effect ??? the corrosion of the Al-bronze in deaerated NaCl solution at a concentration (1*10'?- IxlO‘1) mol dm'^ over the temperature range 293-313K. Values of the protection efficiency and kinetics parameters were obtained from the corrosion current
... Show MoreThe liver is one of the most prominent glands in the digestive system. It crosses vital organs with multiple functions, including the secretion of enzymes, digestion of fats, and secretion of bile. Through histological studies and those interested in them, the tissue structure of the liver is of interest to researchers, and the four samples of Guinea pig Cavia porcellus were taken in this study to know the histological structure and compare it with rodents in particular. and other animals in general. The results of the liver parenchyma were comparable to those of the studied mammals in periods of hepatocytes, Kupffer cells, and sinusoids surrounding the central vein, blood supply, and bile ducts. He did not record differences, eve
... Show MoreNowadays, many new technologies developed in a lot of countries. These technologies are promising in many areas such as environmental monitoring, precision agriculture as well as in animal production. The purpose of this study was to define a better understanding of how new and advanced technologies affect the agriculture and livestock sector alike. Although agriculture and animal husbandry are among the most important sectors, advanced equipment and information technology cannot be used adequately. This situation leads to low production efficiency. It is also known that there can be a significant difference in temperature between the position of the climate control sensor (room temperature) and the area occupied by the animal. This study e
... Show MoreThe liver is one of the most prominent glands in the digestive system. It crosses vital organs with multiple functions, including the secretion of enzymes, digestion of fats, and secretion of bile. Through histological studies and those interested in them, the tissue structure of the liver is of interest to researchers, and the four samples of Guinea pig Cavia porcellus were taken in this study to know the histological structure and compare it with rodents in particular. and other animals in general. The results of the liver parenchyma were comparable to those of the studied mammals in periods of hepatocytes, Kupffer cells, and sinusoids surrounding the central vein, blood supply, and bile ducts. He did not record differences, eve
... Show MoreResults of the current study demonstratedthat out of eighty-three isolatesof Pseudomonas aeruginosa,only twenty-five isolateswere resistant to five different antibiotics (of different classes) that were consequentlyconsideredmultidrug resistant isolates.These isolates developed variable susceptibility toward Eucalyptuscamaldulensisleavesoil (ECO). GC-MS analysis of ECOrevealed that the aromatic oil eugenol is the major constituent.However, the most frequent MIC was 0.39 µg/ml, while the lowest frequent MIC was 3.125 µg/ml.Moreover, this oil at ½ MIC (0.195µg/ml) increased the gene expression of exoU. Itis concluded from the outcomes of the studythat ECOmay cause severe damagewhen used to treat infections caused by P. aeruginosa.
... Show MoreWater injection equipments such as pipelines, which are used in the second recovery of oil in the Al-Ahdeb wells, suffer from the corrosion in water during maintaining vacuum deoxygenated tower that used to decrease concentration of the dissolved oxygen gas in the water from 6.2-9.1 ppm to o.5 ppm. This study involved calculation the corrosion rates of the internal surfaces of the
pipelines either during operation of the vacuum unit or when the tower out of operation. Finally, find the solution by one of the following suggestions. In the first suggestion removal of the dissolved O2 from water is achieved by increasing the dosage of the oxygen scavenger (sodium sulphite). The second suggestion involves removing the dissolved O2 from w
Environmental pollution is regarded as a major problem, and traditional strategies such as chemical or physical remediation are not sufficient to overcome the problems of pollution. Petroleum-contaminated soil results in ecological problems, representing a danger to human health. Bioremediation has received remarkable attention, and it is a procedure that uses a biological agent to remove toxic waste from contaminated soil. This approach is easy to handle, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly; its results are highly satisfactory. Bioremediation is a biodegradation process in which the organic contaminants are completely mineralized to inorganic compounds, carbon dioxide, and water. This review discusses the bioremediation of petroleum-
... Show MoreThe present study was designed to shed light on the molecular effects caused by acute myeloid leukemia (AML). It was also aimed to investigate ASXL1 point mutations in newly AML patients as compared to healthy control. The study comprised of 43 AML Iraqi patients and their ages ranged between 16-75 years. It included 23 females and 20 males compared with 20 healthy controls. Results revealed that the extracted DNA from 30 AML patients and amplified by PCR to obtain ASXL1 gene from exon 12 showed larger bands (479). Among forty three patients, two of them displayed point mutations of deletion and substitution, while the others were normal since no mutations were detected. The total of mutations in two mutated patients was 27 mutations, the m
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