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.
If the State attaches great importance to its foreign relations and intends to strengthen them in order to ensure the achievement of the highest national goals and interests. External relations between countries are one of the most prominent features of foreign policy, which depends on a combination of internal and external factors, the modern relations between Tunisia and Tunisia, which goes back to the pre-independence of Tunisia, when Iraq was a supporter of Tunisia's independence from France in the 1940s, Although these relations did not cause any disturbance by the two countries, but they remained weak relations did not develop in all areas except the sports and cultural field, which we will determine the reasons and the pos
... Show MoreThe continuous pressure of work and daily life and the increasing financial and social stress that Iraqi women are experiencing (both inside and outside Iraq) is one of the main causes of anxiety, particularly in those of working class women. This group of women carry the burden of carrying out multiple roles and responsibilities at the same time. All this collectively make them more prone to developing anxiety compared to men. In addition, the physiological and psychological nature of women, as females, on top of the other roles in life, like being a wife or mother or daughter or sister, all add extra pressure on women especially for those who are considered as productive working individuals in the society. In order to study the relatio
... Show MoreBackground: In dentistry, dentist takes the advantages of soft lining materials due to the viscoelastic properties. The major problem is the adhesion of the soft liner with the denture base material. Materials and Methods: Heat cured of high impact acrylic resin specimens prepared with dimensions 75x13x13mm for shear bond strength test, soft lining material (Refit and Mollosil) with a 3-mm thickness and used to join each two acrylic blocks. Also four specimens with the same previous dimensions utilized for chemical and physical surface analysis. The specimens grouped as control (without plasma) and experiment (with oxygen plasma) treated high impact acrylic specimens. Results: Plasma treatment increased the shear bond strength for both Refi
... Show MoreTo maintain a sustained competitive position in the contemporary environment of knowledge economy, organizations as an open social systems must have an ability to learn and know how to adapt to rapid changes in a proper fashion so that organizational objectives will be achieved efficiently and effectively. A multilevel approach is adopted proposing that organizational learning suffers from the lack of interest about the strategic competitive performance of the organization. This remains implicit almost in all models of organizational learning and there is little focus on how learning organizations achieve sustainable competitive advantage . A dynamic model that captures t
... Show MoreIn this work, prepared new ligand namely 5-(2,4-dichloro-phenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2-(3H)-thion, was obtained from the 2,4-dichlorobenzoyl chloride with hydrazine, after that reaxtion with CS2/KOH in methanol.
SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERISATION OF NEWCo(II), Zn(II) AND Cd(II) COMPLEXES DERIVED FROM OXADIAZOLE LIGAND AND 1,10-PHENANTHROLINE AS Co-LIGAND
Background: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of zirconia different surface treatments (primer, sandblast with 50μmAl2O3, Er,Cr:YSGG laser) on shear bond strength between zirconia surface and resin cement. Material and methods: Sixty presintered Y-TZP zirconia cylinder specimens (IPS e.max ZirCAD, Ivoclar vivadent) will be fabricated and sintered in high temperature furnace of (1500 C for 8 hours) according to manufacturer’s instructions to the selected size and shape of (5mm. in diameter and 6mm in height). All specimens were ground flat using 600.800.1000.1200, aluminum oxide abrasive paper to obtain a standardized surface roughness. Surface roughness values were then recorded in µm using surface roughness tester (profi
... Show MoreThin films of the blended solution of (NiPc/C60) on glass substrates were prepared by spin-coated method for three different ratios (100/1, 100/10 and 100/100). The effects of annealing temperature and C60 concentration on the optical properties of the samples were studied using the UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy and FTIR spectra. The optical absorption spectrum consists of two main bands, Q and B band, with maxima at about (602-632) nm and (700-730) nm for Q1 and Q2 respectively, and (340-375) nm for B band. The optical energy gap were determined from optical absorption spectra, The variation of optical energy gap with annealing temperature was nonsystematic and this may be due to the improvement in crystal structure for thin films. Whi
... Show MoreA series of experiments were conducted for the first time in Iraq to evaluate the efficiency of five plant leaves extracts (Ibicella lutea, Nerium oleander, Clerodendron inerme, Allium cepa and Eucalyptus spp.) in treating the common carp (Cyprinus carpio) infected with monogenetic trematodes of genera Dactylogyrus. Five different concentrations of such extracts were used to bathe fishes for 5,10,15,20 and 25 minutes. A concentration of 15% A. cepa for 25 minutes of bath exposure was affective in trematode eradication. Extracts of both Eucalyptus and N. oleander at a concentration of 10% each were also affective for ten minutes exposure. Extracts of C. inerme had no any effect on such parasites. On the otherhand, extracts of 1. hitea caused
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