Background:Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a progressive, chronic inflammatory illness with an unclear etiology that explicitly targets the vertebral column, peripheral joints, and extraarticular tissues. The purpose of this research was to investigate if the existence of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the promoter region of the tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) gene at positions -1031T/C (rs199964), -857C/T (rs1799724) and -806C/T (rs4248158) in a sample of Iraqi AS patients could influence the patients' outcomes with etanercept.

Methods:Sixty patients with established AS receiving only etanercept were selected to enroll in this study, with a mean age of 40.75±8.6

Hypercholesterolemia is a predominant risk factor for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease (CVD). The World Health Organization (WHO), ) recommended reducing the intake of cholesterol and saturated fats. On the other hand, limited evidence is available on the benefits of vegetables in the diet to reduce these risk factors, so this research was conducted to compare the hypolipidemic effect between the extracts of two different types of Iraqi peppers, the fruit of the genus Capsicum traditionally known as red pepper extract (RPE), and Piper nigrum as black pepper extract (BPE), respectively, in different parameters and histology of the liver of the experimental animals. The red pepper was extracted by ethyl acetate, while the black pepp

Abstract

Objective(s): A descriptive study aimed to determine nurses' knowledge about chest physiotherapy techniques for patients with Corona virus disease and observe the relationship between nurses' knowledge and their socio-demographic characteristics.

Methodology: The study was directed in isolation units of Al- Hussein teaching hospitals in Thi-Qar, Iraq for the period from June 1st,  2022 to November 27th, 2022. Non- probability (purposively) sample comprised 41 nurses. A questionnaire was used for data collection and it consists of two parts: the first part comprises socio demographic features, the second part includes self- administered questionnaire sheet wa

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is often characterized by hyperglycemia as a result of increased insulin resistance in hepatic/peripheral tissues and pancreactic B-cell dysfunction. Approximately 92% of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus demonstrate insulin resistance, however hyperglycemia is always a consequence of insulin deficiency. This study was done on 120 patients newly diagnosed diabetes type 2 characterized by dyslipidemia that is increased triglycerides and decreased HDL. Hypoglycemia and weight gain are common problem with oral sulfonyl urea drugs. In this work three different oral hypoglycemic drugs repaglinide and glibenclamide (insulin secretagogues) and rosiglitazone (insulin sensitizer) were used for treatment of patients w

The study aimed to evaluate the level of MMP‑2 in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients in comparison with that in remission status, and healthy subjects, and to find its correlation with hematologic parameters. This study included sixty newly diagnosed AML patients. Remission status was assessed after induction chemotherapy. The overall survival (OS) was determined after 6 months. The plasma MMP‑2 level was measured at diagnosis by enzyme immunoassay. Twenty‑eight healthy individuals were recruited as a control group. Plasma MMP‑2 was higher in AML patients than in healthy individuals (P = 0.005). The level of MMP‑2 was much higher in the M5 subtype than in the other subtypes (P = 0.0001). There was no statistically significant d

Background: Osteoporosis is an extra-articular complication of rheumatoid arthritis that results in increased risk of fractures and associated morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs. Objective: To evaluate changes in bone mineral density in a sample of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients on biological (anti tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha) and non-biological agent disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Patients and Methods: A cross sectional study enrolled 60 RA patients diagnosed by rheumatologist according to the 2010 American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism (2010 ACR/EULAR) classification criteria for RA. Thirty patient on biological agent (anti TNF alpha) and 30 patient on non-biological agent (D

Heart disease is a significant and impactful health condition that ranks as the leading cause of death in many countries. In order to aid physicians in diagnosing cardiovascular diseases, clinical datasets are available for reference. However, with the rise of big data and medical datasets, it has become increasingly challenging for medical practitioners to accurately predict heart disease due to the abundance of unrelated and redundant features that hinder computational complexity and accuracy. As such, this study aims to identify the most discriminative features within high-dimensional datasets while minimizing complexity and improving accuracy through an Extra Tree feature selection based technique. The work study assesses the efficac

Background: Diabetes mellitus is one of the commonest chronic disorders worldwide with a rapid rise in prevalence. In Iraq its prevalence is high especially in elderly age group. Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus have higher vulnerability for complications, whether microvascular or macrovascular. Ocular complications are common in diabetes mellitus, and comprise diabetic retinopathy, diabetic papillopathy, cataract, glaucoma, dry eye disease and diabetic keratopathy. Diabetic keratopathy involves endothelial and epithelial tissues of the cornea, leading to persistent epithelial defect, corneal erosion, or corneal ulcers.

Aim of the Study: To compare the mean corneal endothelial cell count between patients wi