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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J. Fac. Med. Baghdad 2023. Vol 65, No. 4
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Persuasion is a process studied by many scholars from the Greek time until the present. One persuasion strategy is metadiscourse, which refers to the writers' awareness of their text, the way they present themselves to the readers. The writers use metadiscourse markers to help the readers understand the real meaning of the text (Hyland 2005). The paper carries out a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the employment of persuasive metadiscourse markers in two English trade agreements and two Arabic agreements has provided in terms of Hyland's (2005) model of interactive and interactional markers. The aim is to find out whether all types of metadiscourse markers are used or not, and also to see whether English or Arabic employs
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Background: The majorities of statin-treated patients, in whom low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) targets have been achieved, have had recurrent cardiovascular events (CVE) with an absolute rate remain even higher among patients with disorders of insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome (MetS) and type2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) as compared to patients devoid of these conditions.Objectives: Provide updated key messages of lipid and lipoprotein abnormalities as indicator for cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in patients with T2DM and obesity, as well as the current evidence-based treatment targets and interventions to reduce this risk.Key messages: The Residual Risk Reduction Initiative (R3I) emphasized atherogenic dyslipidemia (AD)
... Show MoreMany studies mentioned that there is a decline in the a achievement of intermediate second class students in mathematics . Parents and mathematics teachers had emphasized that . The studies related this decline to the students weak attitude towards mathematics .
In spite of the importance of this subject , it has not been given enough attention in research in our country . This research is an attempt to know th e relationships between the intermediate second class students , attitude and their achievement in mathematics .
Also, to know the statistical sign
... Show MoreAlgeria is one of the states that are important to the Ottoman state, because of its geographic location is important to the Mediterranean Sea, as well as the economic resources of the nature of its soil geography and climate,diverse, making it the focus of attention of the Ottomans, along with the van, which has increased the interest of the Ottomans in Algeriais the fall Andalusat the hands of the Spaniardsin1492, and force the Muslims to get out of them, and did not Only Europeans do it, butrushed to the prosecution of Muslims tothe coast of North Africa and seizing control of manyofits ports and cities, prompting the Ottoman state to go forth and back to the barn Muslims,Especially after hehad appealed to the Arabs of the Ottoman sta
... Show MoreBackground: Gingivitis is one of the most common and widely spread oral diseases in adolescents after dental caries occur in both developed and developing countries. Dental plaque is the main etiological factor of gingivitis. Another oral problem is enamel defect. The aim of this study was to estimate the oral hygiene (dental plaque), and determine the prevalence and severity of gingivitis and enamel defects among 16-17 years old secondary school female students in urban areas of Kirkuk city/Iraq. Materials and methods: A representative sample included in this study consisted of 750 secondary school female students distributed into 387 for the age sixteen and 363 for the age seventeen, they were selected randomly from different female secon
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Hepatitis A virus infection occurs globally and is causing a public health
concern, primarily in developing countries due to its persistent circulation in the
environment. A total of 120 individuals were included in this study, anti-HAV IgM
antibodies were detected in serum of 100 individuals of them (patients group) who
attended the Wasit central public health laboratory from different cities in Wasit
Province, Iraq, during the period from November 2013 to March 2014.While
another 20 individuals were considered as control group which anti – HAV IgM
antibody was negative in their serum.
Acute infection is confirmed by detection of IgM anti–hepatitis A virus (HAV),
which appears early in the course of infect
Shuaiba Formation is a carbonate succession deposited within Aptian Sequences. This research deals with the petrophysical and reservoir characterizations characteristics of the interval of interest in five wells of the Nasiriyah oil field. The petrophysical properties were determined by using different types of well logs, such as electric logs (LLS, LLD, MFSL), porosity logs (neutron, density, sonic), as well as gamma ray log. The studied sequence was mostly affected by dolomitization, which changed the lithology of the formation to dolostone and enhanced the secondary porosity that replaced the primary porosity. Depending on gamma ray log response and the shale volume, the formation is classified into three zone
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Several methods have been developed for routing problem in MANETs wireless network, because it considered very important problem in this network ,we suggested proposed method based on modified radial basis function networks RBFN and Kmean++ algorithm. The modification in RBFN for routing operation in order to find the optimal path between source and destination in MANETs clusters. Modified Radial Based Neural Network is very simple, adaptable and efficient method to increase the life time of nodes, packet delivery ratio and the throughput of the network will increase and connection become more useful because the optimal path has the best parameters from other paths including the best bitrate and best life link with minimum delays. The re
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