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.
Background: Salmonella spp. are one of the most frequently reported causes of bacterial foodborne outbreak in the world.
Objective: This study has been conducted to detect salmonella as a major public health problem worldwide.
Methods: A total of 12 samples including 8 white meat (chicken) and 4 red meat (beef) samples were collected randomly from each sample; 25gr was separated and treated with 225ml of buffered peptone water, incubated at 37C°and 42C° for 24 hours. Samples were streaked on selective enteric agar.
Result: Totally 4 out of 8 chicken meat and one out of 4 red meat samples were contaminated with Salmonella spp.
Conclusion: These results confirmed the previous findings stating the proper packaging of meat prod
The researcher seeks to know the extent of applying the concept of design by Iraqi electronic press sites to provide media product with the acceptance of their browsers and ensure their repeated visits to such sites in the framework of the guiding rules for laser browsing. The researcher uses analytical study on a sample of six Iraqi electronic newspaper sites to identify the general features of their design and the methods of distribution of the structural elements of the pages. The researcher also conducts a field study on a sample of the surfers of electronic newspaper sites to see the extent of their evaluation to their design and the degree of their satisfaction.
In this study; a three-dimensional model was created to simulate groundwater in Al-Haydariyah area of the governorate of Al-Najaf. A solid model was created to utilize the cross sections of 25 boreholes in the research region, and it was made out of two layers: sand and clay. The steady-state calibration was employed in six observation wells to calibrate the model and establish the hydraulic conductivity, which was 17.49 m/d for sand and 1.042 m/d for clay, with a recharge rate of 0.00007 m/day. The wells in the research region were reallocated with a distance of 1500 m between each well, resulting in 140 wells evenly distributed throughout the study area and with a discharge of 5 l/s, and the scenarios were run for 1000
... Show MoreIraq suffers the continuing lack of water resources in generdwether it is surface or underearth water or rain. The study of rain has got the utmost importance in order to the rain direction in Iraq and in Mosul in particular and what it will be in future. It also shows the wet as well as the dry seasons and the possibility of expecting them and expecting their quantities in order to invest them and to keep this vital resource The research deals with predict the wet and dry rainy seasons in Mosul using (SPI) Standardized precipitation index extracted from conversion of Gamma distribution to standardized normal distribution , depending on data of monthly rain amounts for 1940-2013 . Results showed existence of 31 w
... Show MoreThis study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence rate of
toxoplasmosis among 294 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients treated with
methotrexate (MTX), 50 RA patients without treatment and 50 samples as
healthy control. Blood samples were collected and the presence of T.gondii
IgG and IgM antibodies was determined by using Enzyme linked
immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) was
also estimated in serum of all subjects by using ELISA method too. The
seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis IgM and IgG in RA+MTX was
60(20.408%), and 98(33.33%), in RA patients 4(8%), and 18(36%) while,
it was 2(24%), 6(12%) in healthy group. Tumor necrosis factor alpha
(TNF-α) was also estimated in serum of a
The present study was aimed to find out the role of humoral immunity in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Complements C3, C4 and immunoglobulin IgE .The study included 55 Iraqi patients with psoriasis 30 (15 females ,15 males) were untreated with any drugs. The other patient group consisted of 25 (9 female and 16 male) treated with a biological treatment (infliximab) ,and 30 (13 males ,12 females) healthy control group. Blood sample were withdrawn (5) ml of venous blood for both patients and members of the control ,to conduct the Immunological tests to determine the quantitative for each of total IgE by using (ELISA) and C3,C4 by Single Radial Immunodiffuse (SIRD). The results showed significant increase in the level of probability (P <0.0
... Show MoreResearch Summary The aim of the search for knowledge of the effect generative learning strategy in: 1 - Achievement of the second grade. 2 - Systemic thinking for the second grade students when studying the biology. The study sample increased (60) students distributed into two equal experimental and control groups. Prepare the test of 40 pieces of multiple choice type and prepare a test for systematic thinking according to three skills 1. Understand the relationships between the parts of the systemic form and complement the sentences given 2 - complement the relationships between parts of the systemic form 3. Building the systemic form. It was a search result 1- There is a difference of statistical significance (at level 0.05) between th
... Show MoreBac kground:
Failure is the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and may be viewed as the opposite of success; students always have a question "Why did I get this grade. On the contrary success leads towards new sources of earning, in fact there are a lot of interacting factors play such extrinsic and extrinsic to reach success.
Objec t i ves :
To explore internal and external factors causing students failure in medical college and to reconnoiter factors improve academic performance.
Methods: A cross-sectional study, conducted in Al Kindy College of Medicine, for the period from November 8th 2012 to May 1st 2013. Formal ethical considerations were obtained about participation and methodology. A
Background: Biologically active substances, such as Cathepsin B (CAB) which is a lysosomalcystein protease may be involved in periodontal metabolism in the degradation of organic bone matrix containing collagen fibers in response to mechanical stress from orthodontic appliance. The aims of study were to determine and compare salivary levels of CAB, pH as well as clinical periodontal parameters (Plaque index PLI and gingival index GI) with different orthodontic force magnitudes at different time intervals. Materials and methods: A twenty-four patients (both gender) with age range (17-23) years had Angle's Class II division 1 malocclusion with GI >0.5 enrolled in this study. The level of salivary CAB and pH, in addition to the clinical period
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