Background: Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is an inflammatory, systemic rheumatic condition that mostly affects the axial skeleton. Tenascin-C (TN-C) is a hexameric glycoprotein of considerable size, upregulated in many inflammatory conditions, while Interleukin-17 (IL-17) a cytokine that plays an important role in SpA symptoms. Objective: to investigate the upregulation between the serum levels of TN-C and IL-17 in Iraqi axSpA patients and the disease characteristics. Patients and Methods: Seventy-four axSpA patients and 28 matched controls were studied. Fifty-four patients received a tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) and 20 did not. Serum TN-C and IL-17 concentrations were determined using the ELISA technique. The Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) was assessed. For statistical tests, Chi Square, Mann Whitney, Independent Samples T, and Pearson's correlation tests are used. Results: Patients mean age was 35.6±0.9 years, 65 males and 9 females, and disease duration was 5.18±0.6 years. 47.4% were smokers, 47% had inflammatory low back pain, and HLA-B27 was present in 91%. BASDAI mean was 6.1±0.4 in non-TNFi and 2.6±0.3 in those on TNFi. The serum TN-C concentration was significantly increased in patients, especially those on non-TNFi (79±9.6 pg/mL) compared to those on TNFi (69.1±3.2 pg/mL) and control (53±3.9 pg/mL) (p=0.003). Serum IL-17 was significantly elevated in those receiving TNFi (877.9±257 pg/mL) compared to non-TNFi (487.2±234 pg/mL) and control (182.4±36.6 pg/mL) (p=0.033). The TN-C significantly correlated with erythrocyte sedimentation rate (r=0.27, p=0.02) and with hemoglobin (Hb) concentration (r=0.26, p=0.02). TN-C and IL-17 were non-significantly related (r=0.14, p=0.2). Conclusions: axSpA Patients demonstrated high levels of serum TN-C, particularly in those not receiving TNFi, and high IL-17 levels in those receiving TNFi, suggesting that there is an association with tissue injury from the disease and stimulation of immunological and resident tissue cells. Patients who had not received TNFi showed significantly higher disease activity than others.
Background: Prostatic adenocarcinoma is the most widely recognized malignancy in men and the second cause of cancer-related mortality encountered in male patients after lung cancer.
Aim of the study: To assess the diagnostic value of diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) and its quantitative measurement, apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), in the identification and localization of prostatic cancer compared with T2 weighted image sequence (T2WI).
Type of the study: a prospective analytic study
Patients and methods: forty-one male patients with suspected prostatic cancer were examined by pelvic MRI at the MRI department of the Oncology Teaching Hospital/Medical City in Baghdad
... Show MoreBackground: Obesity is an evolving major health problem in both developed and developing countries. Traditional obesity indices as body mass index, waist circumference, waist-hip-ratio are well known measures to identify obese subjects, however, neck circumference as an index of upper-body obesity was found to be a simple and time-saving screening measure that can be used to identify obesity and the likelihood of developing metabolic syndrome in type 2 diabetic patients.
Aim: to investigate the relationship of neck circumference (NC) to obesity and metabolic syndrome in Iraqi subjects with type 2 diabetes.
Methods: The study group included 90 type 2 diabetic subjects (48 men and 42 women) aged 30-68 years. The subjects were those w
ABSTRACT : Diabetes mellitus stands for a set of metabolic diseases that if they are not managed, they can initiate threatening life problems. This study hypothesizes that insulin-like growth factor-1 level can be used as a biomarker for early diagnosing renal problems in patients with type 2 diabetic disease. This study included 30 recently identified type 2 diabetic patients with acute renal malfunction who had an entrance in National Diabetic Center,AL-Mustansiriyah University.They have beenin the Center from October 2018 up to end of April 2019. Their age range has been (40-62) years. Comprehensive clinical investigationhas beencompleted for each patient to discount other diabetic complications like cardiac, neurologic and eye complicat
... Show MoreThe hazardous metabolic effects of treating schizophrenia patients with olanzapine comprise serotonin 2C receptor (5-HT2C) antagonists. Metabolic side effects of antipsychotic drugs, including lipid abnormalities, disturbed glucose metabolism, and weight gain, can have a major impact on treating psychiatric patients. The intent of this study was to investigate whether there is an associated link between the genetic polymorphism at -759C>T in the promoter region of the 5-hydroxytryptamine 2C receptor (HTR2C) gene and the metabolic syndrome driven by olanzapine in schizophrenia patients. A cross-sectional study that involved fifty hospitalized patients with schizophrenia. The patients were split into two groups (metabolic and non-metab
... Show MoreBackground: Cluster of differentiation 14 (CD14) is a serum/cell surface glycoprotein; and it is a pattern recognition receptor. CD14 expressed on the surface of various cells, or it found soluble in saliva and other body fluids. It has been proposed that soluble CD14 (sCD14) may play a protective role by controlling Gram negative bacterial infections through its capacity to bind lipopolysaccharide. This study was conducted to assess the level of soluble CD14 in saliva of patients with different periodontal diseases and healthy subjects and determine its correlation with clinical periodontal parameters. Materials & Methods: A total of 80 subjects, age ranged (25-50) years old, divided into three main groups, group ? consisted of 45 chronic
... Show MoreA fracture is a damage to bone tissue that causes damage to the tissue surrounding the bone and may penetrate the skin. Subjects and methods: the present study included (80) fractured Iraqi patients (and 40) patients with DM2 and (40) without DM2 and compared them with (40) healthy control. Patients and control are matched in age. This study showed a significant increase in retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) and a considerable decrease in Vit .A GPT and GOT in fracture patients with and without DM2. In addition, there was a significant negative correlation between RBP4 with (GPT and GOT) in fracture patients with DM2 and a significant positive correlation between RBP4 with (GPT and GOT) in fracture patients without DM2.
... Show More
Objective: Detection the level of YKL-40 biochemical marker and vitamin D level in sera of Iraqi uterine cancer
females' patients.
Methodology: This study included 90 female volunteers, 30 of them were healthy volunteers who were
considered as a control group, while sixty serum samples were collected from women patients suffering from
uterine tumors (30 malignant and 30 fibroid benign tumors), benign cases were considered as a disease
control group for malignant tumors. The average age of those females was 30-75 years, which matched the
control group. All the samples were collected from Azady hospital in Kirkuk and the gynecologic department at
Medical City in Baghdad during October /2012 to May /2013. All the serum