Background: The genetic polymorphisms of vitamin D receptor (VDR) have an association with thalassemia development, additionally to the environmental elements that elicited the disorder in the genetically predisposed individuals. As well, VDR functions responsible for the regulation of bone metabolism, such its part in immunity. Aim: The sitting study intended to inspect the association between thalassemia disease and the genetic polymorphisms of VDR among the Iraqi population then compared these findings to other findings of thalassemia patients in other different ethnic populations. Materials and methods: The restriction enzymes Bsm-I and Fok-I were applied to determine the genetic polymorphisms frequencies of VDR by a Polymerase Chain Re

Background: The autism spectrum disorder (ASD) describes a wide range of symptoms, including difficulty with social interaction and communication skills. Controversial thinking about oral health of children with ASD, in general may have a lower hygiene level than healthy individuals, low caries rate and high body weight in comparison to healthy children. This study was conducted to assess the oral health status in relation to nutritional status among institutionalized autistic children and adolescents. Materials and methods: From 12 institutes in Baghdad, the study group contained 364 child and adolescent with ASD (Male= 294, Female=70), while control group included 441 normal child and adolescent (Male=357, Female=84) from primary and seco

Background: Lowering the amount of iodinated contrast material and tube voltage may increase pulmonary artery opacification and thrombus identification without compromising picture quality.

Objectives: To explore the efficiency of using lower tube voltage and a lower contrast medium dose for conducting computed tomography for pulmonary angiography (CTPA) aiming to increase its accuracy in detecting pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE).

Subjects and Methods:100 patients scheduled for CTPA with a preoperative diagnosis of PTE were grouped into two: group A, (50 patients) got 1 mL/kg at 120 kV and group B, (50 patients) received 0.5 mL/kg at 80 kV.The tec

Background: The physiologic, biochemical and anatomic changes that occur during pregnancy are extensive and may be systemic or local. However, most of these changes return to pre pregnancy status six weeks postpartum. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of dental caries among preterm postpartum women and it's relation to baby birth weight and salivary interleukin-6 (IL-6). Materials and methods: 66 postpartum women were examined, 33 preterm postpartum women (study group) and 33 full term postpartum women (control group). Dental caries was recorded using, decayed, missing and filled surfaces index, also assess the decayed lesion by severity. Salivary samples were taken from all subjects to estimate salivary IL-6 levels. Babie

Background: Recent implant surgical approach aims to cause less trauma, invasiveness and pain as much as possible and to reduce patient and surgeon discomfort, time of surgery and time needed for functional implant loading. Flapless surgical techniques considered recently as one of the most popular techniques that may achieve these aims especially enhancing osseointegration and subsequently implant stability within less time than the traditional flapped surgical technique. So this study aimed to make a comparison between flapped and flapless surgical techniques in resulted implant stability according to resonance frequency analysis RFA and in duration of surgical operation. Materials and methods: A total of 26 patients with 41 implants (o

  Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women over the world. To reducing reoccurrence and mortality rates, adjuvant hormonal therapy (AHT) is used for a long period. The major barrier to the effectiveness of the treatment is adherence. Adherence to medicines among patients is challenging. Patient beliefs in medications can be positively or negatively correlated to adherence. Objectives: To investigate the extent of adherence and factors affecting adherence, as well as to investigate the association between beliefs and adherence in women with breast cancer taking AHT. Method: A cross-sectional study included 124 Iraqi women with breast cancer recruited from Middle Euphrates

Background: The menopause is physiological changes in women that give rise to adaptive changes at both systemic and oral level. During menopause, ovarian function declines and the production of sex steroid hormones reduces significantly affecting the oral tissues and periodontal structures leading to chronic inflammation of the gingiva, increased risk of tooth loss. Aim of study: The present study was designed to estimate the oral hygiene status in relation to salivary estradiol level among pre and post-menopausal women. Materials and Methods: Ninety women aged 48-52 years old, the control group consisted of 45 pre-menopausal women and the study group consisted of 45 post-menopause were examined for gingival index, plaque index and calcu

Despite extensive investigations, an effective treatment for sepsis remains elusive and a better understanding of the inflammatory response to infection is required to identify potential new targets for therapy. In this study we have used RNAi technology to show, for the first time, that the inducible lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase 2 (LPCAT2) plays a key role in macrophage inflammatory gene expression in response to stimulation with bacterial ligands. Using siRNA- or shRNA-mediated knockdown, we demonstrate that, in contrast to the constitutive LPCAT1, LPCAT2 is required for macrophage cytokine gene expression and release in response to TLR4 and TLR2 ligand stimulation but not for TLR-independent stimuli. In addition, cells transfe