Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is a chronic rheumatic inflammatory disease affecting mainly the spine and sacroiliac joints. Since the copper-to-zinc ratio (Cu/Zn) indicates an inflammatory response, the change in ratio is expected to correlate with axSpA. This study compared levels of Cu/Zn in the serum of axSpA patients. Serum samples were obtained from 53 patients with axSpA divided according to biological treatment into cohorts A and B, and 28 healthy control as cohort C. Serum levels of Cu and Zn were determined first by a fully automated chemistry analyzer TC-Matrix Plus, then the ratio was obtained. The elevated serum Cu concentration means of cohort B (189.32 ± 13.808 µg/dL) compared to cohort A (168.85 ± 7.244 µg/dL) and cohort C (155.68 ± 3.707 µg/dL) with 0.029 p-values. Reduced Zn concentration means of cohort B (79.74 ± 4.344 µg/dL) compared to cohort A (91.26 ± 4.159 µg/dL) and cohort C (100.93 ± 6.161 µg/dL) with 0.031 p-values. The Cu/Zn mean of cohort B was (2.54 ± 0.25) compared to the Cu/Zn mean of cohort A (1.968 ± 0.125) and cohort C (1.679 ± 0.104) with 0.002 p-values. Due to the results suggesting that the differences between cohorts were associated with inflammatory responses since there was a similar change in ESR levels; however, the differences between cohorts A and B are due to the anti-inflammatory therapy (TNF inhibitor) that cohort A was treated with. Keywords: Axial spondyloarthritis; copper-to-zinc ratio; copper; zinc; inflammation.
Introduction: With the advent of era of targeted cancer therapy, the serious side effects of chemoradiotherapy have been minimised. Considering the success story of anti-HER2/neu drugs in breast cancer oncology, the present study was conducted. The study evaluates the immunohistochemical expression of HER2/neu in endometrioid cancer among Iraqi patients. Aim: To assess the immunohistochemical expression of HER2/neu in endometrioid carcinoma of uterus and to find the relationship of this expression with FIGO stage and grade and with patient age. Materials and Methods: In this cross sectional study, formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue blocks of 62 hysterectomy specimens that were diagnosed as endometrioid carcinoma in the teaching labora
... Show MoreInsulin-induced hyperglycemia is the hallmark of diabetes mellitus (DM), including various metabolic disorders. Diabetic people are more likely to develop dyslipidemia, hypertension, and obesity. Type 2 diabetes (T2DM), the most common illness, is generally asymptomatic in its early stages and can go misdiagnosed for years. Diabetes screening may be beneficial in some cases since early identification and treatment can lessen the burden of diabetes and its consequences. This study aimed to find the relationship between Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and lipid profile components in T2DM patients. This descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional study was performed on the control group and T2DM patients in Medical City in Ba
... Show MoreInsulin-induced hyperglycemia is the hallmark of diabetes mellitus (DM), including various metabolic disorders. Diabetic people are more likely to develop dyslipidemia, hypertension, and obesity. Type 2 diabetes (T2DM), the most common illness, is generally asymptomatic in its early stages and can go misdiagnosed for years. Diabetes screening may be beneficial in some cases since early identification and treatment can lessen the burden of diabetes and its consequences. This study aimed to find the relationship between Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and lipid profile components in T2DM patients. This descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional study was performed on the control group and T2DM patients in Medical City in Baghdad be
... Show MoreCollagen triple helix repeat containing-1 (CTHRC1) is an essential marker for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), but its relationship with pro-inflammatory, anti-inflammatory, and inflammatory markers has been scantily covered in extant literature. To evaluate the level of CTHRC1 protein in the sera of 100 RA patients and 25 control and compare levels of tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin 10 (IL-10), RA disease activity (DAS28), and inflammatory factors. Higher significant serum levels of CTHRC1 (29.367 ng/ml), TNF-α (63.488 pg/ml), and IL-10 (67.1 pg/ml) were found in patient sera as compared to that in control sera (CTHRC1 = 15.732 ng/ml, TNF-α = 33.788 pg/ml, and IL-10 = 25.122 pg/ml). There was no significant correlation be
... Show MoreCollagen triple helix repeat containing-1 (CTHRC1) is an essential marker for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), but its relationship with pro-inflammatory, anti-inflammatory, and inflammatory markers has been scantily covered in extant literature. To evaluate the level of CTHRC1 protein in the sera of 100 RA patients and 25 control and compare levels of tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin 10 (IL-10), RA disease activity (DAS28), and inflammatory factors. Higher significant serum levels of CTHRC1 (29.367 ng/ml), TNF-α (63.488 pg/ml), and IL-10 (67.1 pg/ml) were found in patient sera as compared to that in control sera (CTHRC1 = 15.732 ng/ml, TNF-α = 33.788 pg/ml, and IL-10 = 25.122 pg/ml). There was no significant correlati
... Show MoreIndustrial effluents loaded with heavy metals are a cause of hazards to the humans and other forms of life. Conventional approaches, such as electroplating, ion exchange, and membrane processes, are used for removal of copper, cadmium, and lead and are often cost prohibitive with low efficiency at low metal ion concentration. Biosorption can be considered as an option which has been proven as more efficient and economical for removing the mentioned metal ions. Biosorbents used are fungi, yeasts, oil palm shells, coir pith carbon, peanut husks, and olive pulp. Recently, low cost and natural products have also been researched as biosorbent. This paper presents an attempt of the potential use of Iraqi date pits and Al-Khriet (i.e. substances l
... Show MoreMethylotrophs bacteria are ubiquitous, and they have the ability to consume single carbon (C1) which makes them biological conversion machines. It is the first study to find facultative methylotrophic bacteria in contaminated soils in Iraq. Conventional PCR was employed to amplify MxaF that encodes methanol dehydrogenase enzyme. DNA templates were extracted from bacteria isolated from five contaminated sites in Basra. The gene specific PCR detected Methylorubrum extorquens as the most dominant species in these environments. The ability of M. extorquens to degrade aliphatic hydrocarbons compound was tested at the laboratory. Within 7 days, gas chromatographic (GC) studies of remaining utilize
... Show MoreDespite 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
... Show MoreThe presence and absence binary is an essential part of and a motivation for the direction vision which depends on the principle that the components of the theatre performance move in contrast with each other; one is directly informative which is the presence relations and the other is structural that is identical to the absence relations. The first is material band visual that evokes the incorporeal mental absent. Hence, the present study(Presence and Absence in the Iraqi Theatre Performance :Summer's Rain Play as an Example) aims at explaining those relations and their transformations between presence and absence in the performance
Infection with Trichomonas vaginalis and its relation to some diseases have lately had much attention. The objective of this study was to assess the infection rate of T. vaginalis and its relation to pelvic inflammatory diseases, infertility, and vaginosis. The study also assessed some demographic, clinical, and immunological parameters in women infected with T. vaginalis. The study included 160 non-pregnant married women who attended some private clinics and public hospitals in Baghdad from October 2020 to February 2021. All participants had symptoms of vaginal discharge only or vaginal discharge with lower abdominal pain. The participants were divided into an infertility group (n = 61) and fertility group (n = 99). The participant
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