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.
Deception is an inseparable facet of political discourse in attaining strategic political gains though compromising public opinion. However, the employment of discursive deception strategies by the policy-making institutions of think tanks has not received due attention in the literature. The current study aims at exploring how the ideologizing deception strategies are utilized by the conservative American think tank of the Washington Institute to reproduce socio-political realities and re-shape public opinion. To fulfill this task, van Dijk’s (2000) notion of ideological polarization which shows positive self-representation and negative other representation is adopted to conduct a critical discourse analysis of four Arabic texts relea
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Celiac disease (CD) is an inflammatory small intestinal disorder that can lead to severe villous atrophy, and malabsorption . Since the measurement of α-amylase activity is the most widely used biochemical test for the diagnosis of pancreatic and non pancreatic disease , therefore serum α-amylase were studied in the present study in an attempt to evaluate the usefulness of this enzyme in the diagnosis of celiac disease and its relationship with anti gliadin IgA and IgG and serum glucose . Thirty one patients with celiac disease were studied and compared with twenty four healthy individuals . Significant elevation of α-amylase activity , glucose and anti gliadin IgA and IgG were observed in the sera of patients with celiac diseas
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Type-1 diabetes is defined as destruction of pancreatic beta cell, virus and bacteria are some environmental factor for this disease. The study included 25 patients with type-1 diabetes mellitus aged between 8 – 25 years from Baghdad hospital and 20 healthy persons as control group. Anti-rubella IgG and IgM, anti-Chlamydia pneumonia IgG and IgM were measured by ELISA technique while anti-CMV antibody were measured by immunofluorescence technique. The aim of current study was to know the trigger factor for type-1 diabetes. There were significant differences (P<0.05) between studied groups according to parameters and the results lead to suggest that Chlamydia pneumonia, CMV and rubella virus may trigger type-1 diabetes mellitus in Iraqi pat
... Show MoreA new approach and the developed FIA technique with many advantages (economic, fast, simple, accurate, and high throughput) are used to determine the decongestant drugs (Phenylephrine.HCl, Oxymetazoline.HCl) in biological samples, pharmaceutical formulations, and pure samples via continuous flow injection technique by oxidative coupling reaction, where the method depends on the interaction of the decongestant drug with organic reagents to produce colored compounds, where Phenylephrine reacts with 4-AAP at λmax503 nm to produce a red compound, and the Beer’s law range of 10-600 μg.mL-1 . As for Oxymetazoline, it reacts with DNPH at λmax 631nm to produce a green compound with a linear dynamic range of
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The current research deals with spatial relations as a tool to link urban landmarks in a homogeneous composition with monumental sculptures, by identifying these landmarks and the extent of their impact on them, which constitutes an urgent need to evaluate the appropriate place and its effects on them, so that this analytical study is a critical approach adopted in artistic studies of monumental models in Arabcapitals .The current research came in four chapters, the first chapter of which dealt with the research problem, its importance and the need for it, then its objectives that were determined in revealing the spatial relations and their impact on
... Show MoreThe objective of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of rowatinex and tamsulosin in the treatment of patients with ureteric stone.
Forty patients with ureteric stone ranged (4- 12) mm, were included in this study. They were randomized into two groups where the first group includes twenty patients treated with Rowatinex three times daily (Group 1), and the second group includes twenty patients treated with tamsulosin 0.4mg/day (Group 2). All patients were randomly assigned to receive the designed standard medical therapy for a maximum of 3 weeks.
Each group was given an antibiotic as prophylaxis and an injectable non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug used on demand. At the outpatient clinic all subjects were a
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Atheists have spread in the modern era, so that atheism has become a bad phenomenon in the world in general and in Islamic societies in particular, so the research aims to study the individual and social effects left by atheism on the atheists themselves, and the research included multiple axes: atheism linguistically and idiomatically, atheism in the Qur’an Noble and Modern (and Contemporary) Atheism Statistics: and the reasons for atheism: Studying the phenomenon of atheism in Iraq as a model, then studying the effects of atheism: on the individual first, then atheism and its impact on society, then the conclusion, recommendations, sources and references
The synthesis of gold nanoparticles AuNPs was achievedby the reduction of sodium tetrachloroaurate (III) (NaAuCl4) with ceftriaxone sodium (CR) in aqueous solutionswithout the use of other reducing agent. The effect of reactants concentration, temperature and pH on the sizes and morphology of AuNPs were also studied. The synthesized AuNPs were characterized by UV- visible spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and atomic force microscope (AFM) analysis. Conjugation of antibiotic with the nanoparticles was characterized by FTIR spectrophotometry.
The synthesis of gold nanoparticles AuNPs was achievedby the reduction of sodium tetrachloroaurate (III) (NaAuCl4) with ceftriaxone sodium (CR) in aqueous solutionswithout the use of other reducing agent. The effect of reactants concentration, temperature and pH on the sizes and morphology of AuNPs were also studied. The synthesized AuNPs were characterized by UV- visible spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and atomic force microscope (AFM) analysis. Conjugation of antibiotic with the nanoparticles was characterized by FTIR spectrophotometry.