All major organs may be impacted by the connective disease systemic lupus erythematosus, a separate risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD). Adhesion molecules like intercellular adhesion molecules (ICAM) and vascular cell adhesion molecules (VCAM) can detect endothelial damage and dysfunction, which appear to play a crucial role. This study investigated whether people with SLE had elevated subclinical and clinical atherosclerosis risk factors. Traditional CAD risk factors such as smoking, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia cannot entirely explain this elevation. It is thought that immunological dysfunction also increases CAD risk in SLE patients. The study aimed to assess early endothelial changes in SLE Iraqi female patients without previous coronary artery lesions by exploring a potential relationship between circulating VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 as risk factors for atherosclerosis and the relationship of CAD with SLE disease and its severity; further, the study explained the effect of the hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) on the lipid profile levels of the patients. 92 female SLE patients were divided into mild, moderate, and severe, according to the SLE disease activity index 2000 (SLEDAI-2k), compared with 30 apparently healthy control individuals. All of them need a history of CAD. Serum VCAM-1, ICAM-1 level, VCAM-1/ICAM1 ratio, TC, HDL, LDL levels TC/HDL and LDL/HDL ratios were measured. sVCAM-1, sICAM-1 levels and VCAM-1/ICAM-1 ratio were significantly and gradually increased in patient groups compared with control. Serum TC, HDL and LDL levels were significantly reduced in the SLE patients compared to the control. At the same time, the TC/HDL and LDL/HDL ratios were significantly elevated with the severity of the SLE disease. sVCAM-1, sICAM-1 level and VCAM1/ICAM-1 ratio together with serum TC/HDL and LDL/HDL may improve coronary artery disease risk categorization in SLE patients without acute coronary syndromes. Furthermore, they were more sensitive in severe SLE instances than in moderate and mild ones, suggesting that they may be related to the extent of coronary lesions in SLE patients. VCAM-1 had a higher sensitivity than ICAM-1 in detecting and severity screening for CAD in SLE patients. Keywords: VCAM-1, ICAM-1, SLE, Atherosclerosis
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
... Show MoreMultiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, inflammatory, immune mediated disease of the central nervous system, mostly affecting young adults with mean age of 30 years, twice as high in women compared to men. The etiology of MS is not fully elucidated. MS symptoms are directly related to demyelination and axonal loss, along with other psychological symptoms, can result in functional limitations, disability and reduced quality of life (QoL). The QoL assessments in patients with a chronic disease may contribute to improving treatment and could even be of prognostic value. The goals of this study were to compare the QoL of Iraqi patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS),using three different diseas
... Show MoreThis study was designed to compare the effect of two types of viral hepatitis A and E (HAV
and HEV) on liver functions in Iraqi individuals by the measurement of biochemical changes
associated with hepatitis.
The study performed on 58 HEV and 66 HAV infected patients compared with 28 healthy
subjects. The measured biochemical tests include total serum bilirubin, serum transminases (ALT
and AST) alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT).
The study showed that adolescent and young adults (17-29) years, were mostly affected by
HEV while children (5-12) years were frequently affected by HAV. The severity of liver damage in
HEV patients was higher than HAV patients as a result of high serum transa
The present study reports Morchella conica Pers.1818, which belongs to the family, Morchellaceae as a new record of Iraqi macromycota based on the morphological and molecular methods. During their short and often sporadic fruiting season, this fungal species was found in mixed forest unburned areas in Branan ranges (Suliamaniya Province, Northeast Iraq). Currently, M. conica is the second Morchella species reported from Iraq. The current study aimed to introduce this new record, which is poorly studied in the Middle East. M. conica is morphologically described and phylogenetically confirmed. The relationship between this species and other species within the genus was studied using the nrDNA ITS sequences from different species and divers
... Show MoreABSTRACT:. The Lower Cretaceous Zubair formation is comprised of sandstones intercalated with shale sequences. The main challenges that were encountered while drilling into this formation included severe wellbore instability-related issues across the weaker formations overlaying the reservoir section (pay zone). These issues have a significant impact on well costs and timeline. In this paper, a comprehensive geomechanical study was carried out to understand the causes of the wellbore failure and to improve drilling design and drilling performance on further development wells in the field. Failure criteria known as Mogi-Coulomb was used to determine an operating mud weight window required for safe drilling. The accuracy of the geomechanical
... Show MoreNew series of 4,4'-((2-(Aryl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazole1,3(2H)-diyl)bis(methylene))Diphenol(3a-g) was successfully synthesized from cyclization of the reduction product of bis Schiff bases (2) with aryl aldehydes bearing phenolic hydroxyl in the presence of acetic acid. The structure of these compounds was identified from FT-IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and EIMs. The Antioxidant capability was screened by DPPH and FRAP assays. Both assays showed antioxidant capability more than BHT as well. Compounds 3b and 3c showed antioxidant capacity slightly less than ascorbic acid. The docking study for theses compound was carried out as III DNA polymerase inhibitor. The results of docking demonstrated that the increase in hinderances around phenolic hy
... Show MoreNew series of 4, 4'-((2-(Aryl)-1H-benzo [d] imidazole-1, 3 (2H)-diyl) bis (methylene)) Diphenol (3a-g) was successfully synthesized from cyclization of the reduction product of bis Schiff bases (2) with aryl aldehydes bearing phenolic hydroxyl in the presence of acetic acid. The structure of these compounds was identified from FT-IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and EIMs. The Antioxidant capability was screened by DPPH and FRAP assays. Both assays showed antioxidant capability more than BHT as well. Compounds 3b and 3c showed antioxidant capacity slightly less than ascorbic acid. The docking study for theses compound was carried out as III DNA polymerase inhibitor. The results of docking demonstrated that the increase in hinderances around phenolic hydr
... Show MoreBreast cancer is a disease in which cells in the breast grow out of control. CD200 is a cell surface glycoprotein expressed on many cells, it belongs to the immunoglobulin family (Ig) and have a great role in the regulation of inflammation in autoimmunity. CD200 is the ligand for CD200R1 receptor. To determine if serum level of CD200 and its receptor CD200R1 can be used as a diagnostic and prognostic marker in patients with breast cancer.This case control study was carried out at Oncology Teaching Hospital – Medical city in Baghdad. Six groups were enrolled, four groups were confirmed with breast cancer stage (I, II, III and IV), fifth group (benign) and sixth group was control (healthy individual). Serum is divided to me
... Show MoreThe main objectives of this study are to study the enhancement of the load-carrying capacity of Asymmetrical castellated beams with encasement the beams by Reactive Powder Concrete (RPC) and lacing reinforcement, the effect of the gap between top and bottom parts of Asymmetrical castellated steel beam at web post, and serviceability of the confined Asymmetrical castellated steel. This study presents two concentrated loads test results for four specimens Asymmetrical castellated beams section encasement by Reactive powder concrete (RPC) with laced reinforcement. The encasement of the Asymmetrical castellated steel beam consists of, flanges unstiffened element height was filled with RPC for each side and laced reinforced which are use
... Show MoreBackground: The assessments of performance in any health system is a
challenging goal.
Objectives: This article reviews the top healthcare systems then compares
them to Iraqi health system.
Patients and methods: The top 12 commercial Health Systems in 2020
ranked by a survey of more than 20,000 international citizens from 73
countries on 65 diverse metrics. These metrics vary from simple to critical
health system performance criteria.
Results: Up to January 2020, the review shows that Canada has t
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