Abstract Background: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) results from sequential genetic alterations in a normal hematopoietic stem cell or its progenitors giving rise to an autonomous clone that dominates the bone marrow leading to marrow failure. MicroRNAs are short non-coding nucleic acid sequences that regulate post-transcriptional gene expression by base-pairing with their target mRNAs. MiRNAs can be secreted into extracellular fluids and carried to target cells by vesicles or bound to proteins. Intracellular and circulating miRNAs are believed to be useful markers in the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of various cancers. Practically, circulating miRNAs are more stable at room temperatures and extreme conditions. Purpose: This study aimed to compare the expression of miR-126-3p and miR-423-5p in patients and normal subjects and correlate their expression with response to induction therapy and with their 2-year overall survival rate. Patients and methods: Circulating miR-126-3p and miR-423-5p was measured in the plasma of 43 adult AML patients and 35 age- and sex-matched controls by quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR. The fold change in differential expression for each gene was calculated using the comparative cycle threshold method. Results: There was an increase in the expression of the studied miRNAs in patients compared to the control group. The average expression fold change of miR-126-3p was 3.02 (p= 0.010). The average expression fold change of miR-423-5p was 4.09 (p= 0.003). No significant correlation was found between the expression of miR-126-3p and miR-423-5p in the studied AML patients (r = 0.094, p = 0.22). Furthermore, no relationship was found between the expression of the studied miRNAs and response to induction therapy or the 2-year survival rate. Conclusion: Although further studies are needed, our findings highlight the studied circulating miRNAs as possible diagnostic markers for AML.
Background: There are various secreted proteins affecting the prognosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and one of them is Angiopoietin-2(Ang-2) which is thought to have an essential role in the development and progression of the tumor. Aim of the study: This study was conducted to determine the expression of (Ang-2) in (OSCC) to assess its correlations with clinicopathological parameters of the tumor. Material and Methods: 36 formalin- fixed, paraffin- embedded tissue blocks histologically diagnosed as OSCC were examined for Ang-2 immunohistochemical expression semi quantitively. Results: The expression of Ang-2 was significantly associated with histopathological grade (P value=0.023), while there is no significant association wi
... Show MoreInterleukins (IL-2 and IL-4) are increased in asthmatics and were reported to induce resistance to steroid therapy in some patients who fail to get benefit from glucocorticoids when used in full dose and for long period of time. In this context, the present study was conducted on Iraqi patients to provide additional laboratory mean, beside the clinical diagnosis, for the decision whether the asthma is steroid sensitive or resistant by monitoring the level of immunoglobulins, complement proteins and interleukins among asthmatic patients (steroid sensitive or resistant) and the possible contribution of other factors like age, sex and environments in the development of steroid resistance. A total number of 55 asthmatics and 28 normal subjec
... Show MoreAnemia of chronic disease (ACD) and iron deficiency anemia (IDA) are the two most important types of anemia in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Functional iron deficiency in ACD can be attributed to overexpression of the main iron regulatory hormone hepcidin leading to diversion of iron from the circulation into storage sites resulting in iron-restricted erythropoiesis. The aim is to investigate the role of circulating hepcidin and to uncover the frequency of IDA in RA. The study included 51 patients with RA. Complete blood counts, serum iron, total iron binding capacity, ferritin, and hepcidin- 25 were assessed. ACD was found in 37.3% of patients, IDA in 11.8%, and combined (ACD/IDA) in 17.6%. Serum hepcidin was higher in ACD than in con
... Show MoreObjectives: With the advent of ongoing novel modalities toward the treatment of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)/NEU - positive malignancies, the serious side effects of chemoradiotherapy have been minimized. Hence, this study was conducted to identify the patterns of immunohistochemical expression of the promising therapeutic target (HER2/NEU) among Iraqi patients with medulloblastoma in an attempt to provide basic histological information’s that would help in future clinical researches.Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, 42 formalin - fixed paraffin - embedded tissue blocks represent cases of surgically removed medulloblastomas were retrieved from the archived materials in a specialized surgical ho
... Show MoreThe survival analysis is one of the modern methods of analysis that is based on the fact that the dependent variable represents time until the event concerned in the study. There are many survival models that deal with the impact of explanatory factors on the likelihood of survival, including the models proposed by the world, David Cox, one of the most important and common models of survival, where it consists of two functions, one of which is a parametric function that does not depend on the survival time and the other a nonparametric function that depends on times of survival, which the Cox model is defined as a semi parametric model, The set of parametric models that depend on the time-to-event distribution parameters such as
... Show MoreAcute appendicitis is the most common surgical abdominal emergency. Its clinical diagnosis remains a challenge to surgeons, so different imaging options were introduced to improve diagnostic accuracy. Among these imaging modality choices, diagnostic medical sonography (DMS) is a simple, easily available, and cost effective clinical tool. The purpose of this study was to assess the accuracy of DMS, in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis compared to the histopathology report, as a gold standard. Between May 2015 and May 2016, 215 patients with suspected appendicitis were examined with DMS. The DMS findings were recorded as positive and negative for acute appendicitis and compared with the histopathological results, as a gold standard
... Show MoreCancer is one of the dangerous diseases that afflict a person through injury to cells and tissues in the body, where a person is vulnerable to infection in any age group, and it is not easy to control and multiply between cells and spread to the body. In spite of the great progress in medical studies interested in this aspect, the options for those with this disease are few and difficult, as they require significant financial costs for health services and for treatment that is difficult to provide.
This study dealt with the determinants of liver cancer by relying on the data of cancerous tumours taken from the Iraqi Center for Oncology in the Ministry of Health 2017. Survival analysis has been used as a m
... Show MoreBackground: The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of ?broblast growth factor-2 and Heparanase in oral squamous cell carcinoma, and to correlate the two studied marker with each other and with clinicopathologicalfinding including grade, stage. Methods: Sections of 30 formalin-fixed paraffin embedded blocks specimens of oral squamous cell carcinoma were immunostained to assess the expression of ?broblast growth factor-2 and Heparanse in oral squamous cell carcinoma cases. Results: The expression of fibroblast growth factor-2 and Heparanase were positive in all oral squamous cell carcinoma cases (100%). The positive expression of fibroblast growth factor-2 was significantly correlated with tumor site (p=0.016),and clinical pres
... Show MoreBackground: Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a condition characterized by an elevation of oxidative stress, which has been implicated in diabetic progression and its vascular complications. Aim: Assessing the impact of gliclazide modified release (MR) versus glimepiride on oxidative stress markers, glycemic indices, lipid profile, and estimated glomerular filtration rate in uncontrolled type 2 diabetic patients on metformin monotherapy. Methods: This was an observational comparative study conducted in Thi-Qar specialized diabetic, endocrine, and metabolism center. Sixty-six patients were randomized into two groups based on the addition of the sulfonylureas (SUs). Group 1 (33 patients) was on gliclazide MR, whereas Group 2 (33 patients)
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