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
Background: Aortic valve stenosis results from minor to severe degrees of aortic valve maldevelopment. This stenosis causes mild to severe obstruction of the left ventricular outflow .
Objectives : to study the immediate and intermediate results of percutaneous balloon aortic valvuloplasty in patients with congenital valvular aortic stenosis .
Type of the study: A prospective study.
Methods: The study was done on thirty five patients with congenital valvular aortic stenosis who had percutaneous balloon aortic valvuloplasty in Ibn Al- Bitar Center for Cardiac Surgery from May 2009 to February 2011.
Results
... Show MoreThe invasion and spread of cancer cells are two of the most notable characteristics of malignant tumors. Recent studies suggest that the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been linked to this significant occurrence. It is linked to the absence of the epithelial brow and the presence of mesenchymal facial hair. The aims of the present study were to explore the immunohistochemical staining of vimentin and E-cadherin ex vivo as EMT markers and assess their potential as predictive biomarkers for transitional cell cancer (TCC). In this study, 55 paraffin-embedded biopsies from TCC patients and 10 autopsies that appeared to be normal were included. Immunohistochemistry was used to produce patterns of vimentin and E-cadherin expression. W
... Show MoreType-1 diabetes is defined as destruction of pancreatic beta cell, virus and bacteria are some environmental factor for this disease. The study included 25 patients with type-1 diabetes mellitus aged between 8 – 25 years from Baghdad hospital and 20 healthy persons as control group. Anti-rubella IgG and IgM, anti-Chlamydia pneumonia IgG and IgM were measured by ELISA technique while anti-CMV antibody were measured by immunofluorescence technique. The aim of current study was to know the trigger factor for type-1 diabetes. There were significant differences (P<0.05) between studied groups according to parameters and the results lead to suggest that Chlamydia pneumonia, CMV and rubella virus may trigger type-1 diabetes mellitus in Iraqi pat
... Show MoreType 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic disorder that is associated with the imbalance of trace elements which are involved in many functions especially enzyme activities. Changes in the levels of serum elements probably can create some complications in type 2 diabetes mellitus. Previous experimental and clinical studies report that oxidative stress plays a major role in the pathogenesis and development of (T2DM). However, the exact mechanism of oxidative stress could contribute to and accelerate the development of (T2DM).
The aim of this study contained the following sections: firstly, to determine some biochemical parameters in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) like lipid peroxidation marker, malondialdeh
... Show MoreAntioxidant status imbalance and inflammatory process are cooperative events involved in type 2 diabetes mellitus. This study aimed to investigate superoxide dismutase as a potential biomarkers of antioxidant imbalance, matrix-metaloprotinase-9, and interleukin -18 as biomarkers of inflammation in serum and to estimate the effects of other confounding factors gender, age and finally measuring the relation among the interested biomarkers.
This case - control study included 50 patients, and 45 of healthy subjects matched age –gender were also enrolled in this study as a control group. The focused  
... Show MoreT-cell activation and alteration of cytokine levels are involved in the pathogenesis of asthma. However, the profile of circulating T-lymphocyte subsets and related cytokines during asthmatic attacks is still unclear. We compared the serum concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines Interleukine-18( IL-18) and Interleukine-12(IL-12), T-helper 2 (Th2) cytokine Interleukine-13(IL-13 ) and Immunoglobuline-E ( IgE) in 27 asthmatic children and 21 sex and age matched healthy control subjects. Serum cytokines and IgE concentrations were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Serum IL-13 , IL-18 and IgE concentrations were significantly higher in asthmatic patients than normal control subjects ( IL-13: median 9.73 versus 4.43 pg/ml, P&l
... Show MoreBioindicators have an important role in assessing the quality of water bodies. Aquatic oligocheates, was used as a bioindicator to assess the sediment quality of Al-Hindyia and AL-Abbasyia river (branches of Euphrates River in Iraq). Two sites in each river have been chosen for this purpose, site S1 was located at Al-Hindyia River and S2 at Al-Abbasyia River. Some kinds of biological indices were used in this study, comprising the percentage of oligochaetes in benthic invertebrates, ranged from 20.3-60.16%. While the percentage of Tubificidae within benthic invertebrates was close 43.3-43.9%.Index of pollution D ranged from 0.13-0.21. The maximum percentage of aquatic oligochaetes to insects larvae of family
... Show MoreThe aim of the work is synthesis and characterization of bidentate ligand [3-(3-acetylphenylamino)-5,5-dimethylcyclohex-3-enone][HL], from the reaction of dimedone with 3-amino acetophenone to produce the ligand [HL], the reaction was carried out in dry benzene as a solvent under reflux. The prepared ligand [HL] was characterized by FT-IR, UV-Vis spectroscopy, 1H, 13C-NMR spectra, Mass spectra, (C.H.N) and melting point. The mixed ligand complexes were prepared from ligand [HL] was used as a primary ligand while 8-hydroxy quinoline [HQ] was used as a secondary ligand with metal ion M(Π).Where M(Π) = (Mn ,Co ,Ni ,Cu ,Zn ,Cd and Pd) at reflux ,using ethanol as a solvent, KOH as a base. Complexes of the composition [M(L)(Q)] with (1
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