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.
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Background: Manuka honey (MH) is a mono-floral honey derived from the Manuka tree (Leptospermum scoparium). MH is a highly recognized for its non-peroxide antibacterial activities, which are mostly related to its unique methylglyoxal content (MGO) in MH. The beneficial phytochemicals in MH is directly related to their favorable health effects, which include wound healing, anticancer, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties. Aims: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of MH on pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-8 and TNF-α) in patients with gingivitis and compare it with chlorhexidine (CHX) and distilled water (DW). Materials and Methods: This study was a randomized, double blinded, and parallel clinical trial. Forty-fiv
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إنّ التّأمّل في الدّراسات الأدبيّة النّقديّة الحديثة الّتي تنظر إلى النّصّ أنّه لوحة تتشكّل من مجموعة تداخلات نصّيّة سابقة للنصّ المُنتج أو مُعاصرة له، تدفع القارئ إلى الغوص في أعماق النّصوص وتحليلها والكشف عن الآليّات والإجراءات الّتي اعتمدت في إنتاجه، وإظهار الجماليّات الفنّيّة التي شكلت في مُجملها كائنا حيّا يُعبّر عن حالات إنسانيّة مُستمرة الحدوث رغم تقادم الأزمان.
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... Show MoreThis study is an approach to assign the land area of Kirkuk city [ a city located in the northern of Iraq, 236 kilometers north of Baghdad and 83 kilometers south of Erbil [ Climatic atlas of Iraq, 1941-1970 ] into different multi zones by using Satellite image and Arc Map10.3, zones of different traffic noise pollutions. Land zonings process like what achieved in this paper will help and of it’s of a high interest point for the future of Kirkuk city especially urban
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The Security Council has an active role in addressing international crises and dealing with their causes. The Libyan crisis is one of the most important real tests of the Security Council and its role in maintaining international peace and security, as the Council has proven so far an ineffective role in resolving the crisis and dealing withtheir causes, which has prolonged its duration and increased its complexities and dangerous repercussions, perhaps the most prominent of which is the threat of the recently achieved cease-fire and the formation of a new transitional government led by Abdel Hamid al-Dabaiba, the growing significant obstacles facing the political process, foremost of which is the continued presence of foreign forces , m
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The principle of citizenship has international dimensions that affect the application of the principle, such as the structure of the international system, and the control of the concepts of globalization, international organizations which played an important role in the consolidation of this principle.
The problem of the study revolves around the effects of international variables on the principle of citizenship in Kuwait during the period 1991-2018.
The study used several indicators, such as: the rule of law, achieving the principle of separation of powers, the right to form parties, the application of the law of nationality, and racial discrimination, women's rights, and freedom of expression.
Nitroso-R-salt is proposed as a sensitive spectrophotometric reagent for the determination of paracetamol in aqueous solution. The method is based on the reaction of paracetamol with iron(III) and subsequent reaction with nitroso-R-salt to yield a green colored complex with maximum absorption at 720 nm. Optimization of the experimental conditions was described. The calibration graph was linear in the concentration range of 0.1 – 2.0 ?g mL-1 paracetamol with a molar absorptivity of 6.9 × 104 L mol-1 cm-1. The method was successfully applied to the determination of paracetamol in pharmaceutical preparations without any interference from common excipients. The method has been statistically evaluated with British Pharmacopoeia method a
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This study deals with the intellectual representations whose intellectual systems are incarnated in the Jewish personality, which is considered one of the complex intellectual systems that has caused controversy throughout the ages because of the ambiguity due to the religious and psychological factors that were reflected directly and strongly on the intellectual structure of the Jewish community in general and the Jewish - Zionist personality in particular, in an attempt (to create new dimensions embodied by intellectual representations of a human nature embodied by what that - peaceful - religiously oppressed - psychologically and socially isolated character presents, because of the curse of the peoples of the world that was a cause fo
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