Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with polymorphic expression. B cells have an essential contribution in immune system activation via the production of different cytokines and functioning as potent antigen-presenting cells. Therefore, a drug that particularly targets B cells may represent an ideal therapeutic approach for SLE. Rituximab (RTX), an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody causing transient B-cell depletion, has been used to manage SLE. This study aims to assess Rituximab effects on lupus nephritis (LN) patients when added to conventional immunosuppressants. Twenty four patients, 15-32 years old, with class III/IV/V LN were involved in this study. All were on steroids before lupus nephritis occurrence. They were given rituximab induction therapy and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) maintenance therapy. RTX was indicated for refractory and relapsing SLE. Several investigations done before and after RTX treatment and in the last follow up (done one year after starting Rituximab). Those included protein in urine, serum creatinine, double stranded DNA, C3, C4, and Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR). Proteinuria decreased significantly after RTX treatment and in the last measurement (P=0.01 and P=0.001, respectively). Serum creatinine significantly decreased only in the last measurement (P=0.02). Double stranded DNA decreased remarkably after treatment (P=0.01) with a further decrease in the last measurement (P=0.006). C3 and C4 increased after treatment but the increase was significant only for C3 (P=0.002) and this increase continues till the last measurement (P=0.0006). Active urine sediments found in fifteen patients and disappeared after RTX treatment. Rituximab can be promising in treating lupus nephritis when used along with traditional immunosuppressants. It can reduce disease activity and improve renal function in such patients.
During the last few years, the greener additives prepared from bio-raw materials with low-cost and multifunctional applications have attracted considerable attention in the field of lubricant industry. In the present work, copolymers derived from sunflower and linseed oils with decyl methacrylate were synthesized by a thermal method using benzoyl peroxide (BPO) as a radical initiator. Direct polymerization of fatty acid double bonds in the presence of a free radical initiator results in the development of environmentally friendly copolymeric additives (Co-1 and Co-2). Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H-NMR) were used to characterize the resulting copolymers. Thermal decomposition of copolymers was de
... Show MoreDiabetic nephropathy (DN) is the foremost cause of end-stage renal disease. Early detection of DN can spare diabetic patients of severe complications. This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of red cell distribution width (RDW) and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in the detection of DN in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This cross-sectional study included a total of 130 patients with T2DM, already diagnosed with T2DM. The albumin creatinine ratio (ACR) in urine samples was calculated for each patient, according to which patients were divided into two groups: with evidence of DN when ACR ? 30 mg/g, and those with no evidence of DN when ACR < 30 mg/g. According to multivariate analysis, each of disease duration (OR
... Show MoreA study was conducted to evaluate the antibacterial effect of Phyllanthus emblica extract (ethanol:methanol, 1:1) against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli at different concentrations, i.e. 0.625, 1.25, 2.50, 5.0, 10.0 and 20.0 mg/ml. The antibacterial activity was determined by the agar well diffusion method to investigate the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC). The alcoholic extract of Phyllanthus emblica had the highest antibacterial activity at 20 mg/ml and 5 mg/ml except for Pseudomonas aeruginosa where the value of inhibition was between 20 and 10 mg/ml. The MIC concentrations were mostly very high and ranged from 5 to 1.25 mg/ml, while the MBC range fro
... Show MoreUreteric obstruction is rarely noted in cases of gastric cancer. Its involvement by distant metastasis from gastric adenocarcinoma without direct invasion is an exceptionally unusual occurrence. This is the story of a 58-year-old man who arrived at the emergency department with acute flank pain and fever. He was initially diagnosed with obstructive pyelonephritis after the discovery of a new onset, complete ureteric obstruction on the left side. Subsequent investigations and follow-up revealed the presence of gastric adenocarcinoma with possible ureteric metastasis bilaterally, flank pain and hydronephrosis were the first and only presentations of gastric cancer. The rarity of the condition and the unusual presentation encouraged us to r
... Show MoreThe present study aims at scrutinizing the impoliteness types, causes, and purposes utilized by Iraqi English language learners when refusing marriage proposals. Thus, it attempts to answer the questions: (1) what are the impoliteness formulas used by the Iraqi learners of English in refusing marriage proposals?, and (2) What are their impoliteness triggers/causes and the purposes? The study is significant in bridging the gap that few linguistic types of research concentrate on studying intentionality and emotions allied with impoliteness. Data were collected from 35 Iraqi learners of English responding to 6 situations of marriage. The data were analyzed using Culpeper’s (2011) formulas of impoliteness and Bousfield’s (2007) impolite
... Show MoreAbstract
Itraconazole is a triazole antifungal given orally for the treatment of oropharyngeal and vulvovaginal candidiasis, for systemic infections including aspergillosis, candidiasis, and for the prophylaxis of fungal infections in immunocompromised patients.
The study aimed to formulate a practical water-insoluble Itraconazole, with insufficient bioavailability as nanosuspension to increase aqueous solubility and improve its dissolution and oral bioavailability.
Itraconazole nanosuspension was produced by a
... Show MoreThis study has been carried out to evaluate the expression level of beta 2 microglobulin gene on patients infected by hepatitis C virus before and after treatment with interferon. The study included 117 hepatitis C patients comprising as 63 pre-treated patients, the range of age was between 20-65 year with a mean age of 48.12 ± 16.1 and 54 post-treated patients with age range was between 23-63 year with the mean of 46.1 ± 18.1. Also it was found that more than half of patients were located within third and fourth decade i.e. 30-49 year, with a percentage of 52.4% and 55.6 % for pre-treatment and post-treatment patients respectively. Moreover , regarding both groups, males are more than females with the ratio of ( 3.2:1) among p
... Show MoreThis work aimed to study the effect of laser surface treatment on the mechanical characteristics and corrosion behaviour of grey cast iron type A159. Many technical applications used conventional surface treatment, but laser surface hardening has recently been used to enhance the surface properties of many alloys. The mechanical characteristics, including microstructure, microhardness, and wear resistance of A159 grey cast iron, were studied, in addition to corrosion behaviour. The experimental laser parameters in this work were 0.9, 1.2, and 1.5 KW power with continuous wave carbon dioxide lasers with scanning speeds of 10 and 12 mm/s were used. The results found that phase-transitional alterations in microstructure were influenced by lase
... Show MoreBackground: The main drawback of soft lining materials was that they debonded from the denture base after a certain period of usage. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to determine the impact of oxygen and argon plasma treatment on the shear bonding strength of soft liners to two different kinds of denture base materials: conventional acrylic resin and high impact acrylic resin. Materials and Methods: Heat cure conventional and high impact acrylic blocks (40 for each group) were prepared. A soft liner connected the final test specimen of two blocks of each acrylic material. Shear bond strength (SBS) was assessed using universal testing machine. Additional blocks were also prepared for analyzing Vickers microhardness, contact ang
... Show MoreOne of the important units in Sharq Dijla Water Treatment Plant (WTP) first and second extensions are the alum solution preparation and dosing unit. The existing operation of this unit accomplished manually starting from unloading the powder alum in the preparation basin and ending by controlling the alum dosage addition through the dosing pumps to the flash mix chambers. Because of the modern trend of monitoring and control the automatic operation of WTPs due to the great benefits that could be gain from optimum equipment operation, reducing the operating costs and human errors. This study deals with how to transform the conventional operation to an automatic monitoring and controlling system depending on a Programmable
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