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
The current research aims to identify the psychological security of students in the kindergarten department and identify if there is a significant difference between stage one and stage four students. To do this, the researcher adopted the psychological research scale of (Al-mohamdawi, 2007) that consisted of (30) items. It was administered to (120) female students chosen randomly from the kindergarten department in the college of education for women for the academic year (2029-2021). The results revealed that students in the kindergarten department have psychological security. There is a significant difference between stage one and four students in favor of stage four students.
If we go beyond the technical aspects of the Web 2.0, and we focus specifically on its interactive characteristics, we may say it represents not only a fundamental shift in the structure of the press institutions and its practices but also a shift in the relationships that existed, previously, between the press and the audience. Web 2.0 has enabled the newspapers to renovate their representations and practices of the profession and opens to the new horizons either in terms of readership or advertising revenues. Parallel to that it also has empowered the user to transcend the passivity he has always been confined in and has become a more active participant in the creation and generation of media contents even though this practice is somew
... Show MoreWe have studied theoretically the response of atomic three- level cascade scheme
of rubidium vapor to a strong laser under conditions in which electromagnetically
induced transparency would be induced on a weak probe beam. We show that the
medium that is an opaque to a probe laser can, by applying both lasers
simultaneously, be made transparent.
This study included nine patients with inactive carrier states of HBV and 14 healthy control groups. The number and the percentage of T-lymphocyte (CD3+ Cells) in the peripheral blood of these groups showed no significant difference. Similar trend was observed when number and percentages of T helper cells (CD4+ cells) and T cytotoxic lymphocytes (CD8+ cells). Moreover, no significant difference in CD4+ /CD8+ cells ratio (P > 0.05) in peripheral blood of patients with inactive carrier state of HBV as compared with healthy control group. The levels of total serum bilirubin (TSB) concentration and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity were similar to control group. The levels of immunoglobulin concentration (IgG and IgM) in patients g
... Show MoreThe 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
... Show MoreHemipteran species of alfalfa plant surveyed in Abu Ghraib, Baghdad during the months of April, May and October of 2010. The study was registered, eight species belonging to eight genera and six families. The results showed that Deracoris sp. Kirschbaum,1855 and Campylomma diversicornis Reuter, 1878 the most abundant species while Lygaeus pandurus Scop. and Pyrrhocorius apterus (Linnaeus 1758) were the lowest during the study period.
Media has become a common platform for communication as a tool of offense. English language has many insult words which are commonly used in the world of media. This study investigates the socio-pragmatic aspect of insulting in English news. It aims at identifying and analysing insult words and expressions used by news presenters. To specify the problem of the study, language has a harmful power that hurts the addressees and seriously harm their psychological well-being. The insulting words that are an element of all human languages are the source of this abusive power. The study questions sought to find out are if news presenters use insult words, which insult words, and in what social contexts. In this study, the descriptive method is use
... Show MoreBackground: Denture cleansing is an important step that can prevent the spread of infection and improve a patient's health, the durability of the dentures, and the overall quality of life; therefore, it is necessary to choose a suitable cleanser that, in addition to being effective, does not have an unfavorable effect on the qualities of the denture base resin itself when used for an extended period. Aim: This research aims to assess the effects of ozonated water on the surface roughness and hardness of heat-cured acrylic resin by immersion technique. Materials: Sixty bars shapemade of heat-cured acrylicweremanufactured.Thirty samples for every test, including: (surface hardness and surface roughness). Then, these samples were divided into
... Show MoreThe government of Iraq states that despite the massive amounts invested in the power generating sector, the country has been plagued by power outages for more than three decades; One of the most common sources of the problem and significant impact on the waste of public funds in contractual processes. The Ministry of Planning issued the sectorial
specialized standard bidding documents (SSBD) of Design, Supply, and Installation of the Electromechanical Works (DSIoEW), which is primarily designed to support the Ministry of Electricity (MoE) by developing economic projects to improve the contractual process that led to raisings Iraqi electricity generation field. The research evaluates the impact of
applying the SSBD-DSIoEW for