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.
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of respiratory airways characterized by distinctive history of respiratory symptoms due to variable airflow obstruction which reverses either spontaneously or in response to certain medications. Acetylcholine is a parasympathetic neurotransmitter which plays fundamental roles in the development of persistent asthma. Treatment guidelines recommend using medium doses of inhaled corticosteroids in addition to another controller bronchodilator instead of using high doses inhaled steroid alone for treatment of moderate to severe persistent asthma. The inhaled long acting muscarinic antagonist, tiotropium, was approved recently to control unresponsive asthma to inhaled corticosteroid with or without a long
... Show MoreAbstract A description study was carried through out the present study aimed to assess health education provided by nurses to patient with gall stone "obstructive jaundice". The study was conducted at 4 teaching hospital, Baghdad teaching hospital, Al-Karama teaching hospital, Al-Yarmook teaching hospital, Al-Kendy teaching hospital where choloecystectomy was performed, in the period from first of June 2004 to end of July 2004. Data were collected through the use of questionnaire an interview from which was developed for the purpose of the present study. A non-probability (purposive) sample which was consist
The 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 MoreAbstract
Objective(s): A descriptive study aimed to determine nurses' knowledge about chest physiotherapy techniques for patients with Corona virus disease and observe the relationship between nurses' knowledge and their socio-demographic characteristics.
Methodology: The study was directed in isolation units of Al- Hussein teaching hospitals in Thi-Qar, Iraq for the period from June 1st, 2022 to November 27th, 2022. Non- probability (purposively) sample comprised 41 nurses. A questionnaire was used for data collection and it consists of two parts: the first part comprises socio demographic features, the second part includes self- administered questionnaire sheet wa
... Show MoreABSTRACT Background:- White spot lesions are common esthetic problem that compromise the success of orthodontic treatment. This study aimed to assess white spot lesions in patients with fixed orthodontic appliance at different time intervals. Materials & Methods:- Thirty two patients (24 females and 8 males) were included in this study and they underwent clinical examination for white spot lesions using enamel decalcification index at four time intervals: (2-3 weeks after appliance insertion, 2, 4 and 6 months). Results:- The patients were free of white spot lesions at the appliance insertion visit. The mean of white spot lesions was 2.22 which were increased significantly during six months to reach 24.59 at the end of study. There was a si
... Show MoreThis study included estimation of glutathione (GSH) and Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in the serum of diabetic patients type II who are treated with a polyherbs mixture (Nigella sativa, Trigonella foenum-graeum, Cyperus rotundus and Teucrium polium) for three months of treatments. Seventy samples of diabetic patients Type II male and females with age about (35-60) years were taken including 44 samples for group one (24 male, 20 female) who used herbs accompanied with chemical treatment (drugs) and 26 samples for the second group (13male and 13 female) who used herbs only. These groups were compared with 60 samples obtained from healthy persons (29 male, 31 female) at the same age of patients as a control group. Effect of age and treatment fo
... Show MoreBackground: One of the most predominant periodontal diseases is the plaque induced gingivitis. For the past 20 years, super-oxidized solutions have be..
Introduction: The association between acute stroke and
renal function is well known. The aim of this study is to
know which group of patients with acute stroke is more
likely to have undiagnosed Chronic Kidney Disease and
which risk factors are more likely to be associated with.
Methods:We studied 77 patients who were diagnosed to
have an acute stroke.Patients were selected between
April2011andJune 2011 using the " 4-variable
Modification of
Diet in Renal Disease Formula " which estimates
Glomerular Filtration Rate using four variables :serum
creatinine ,age ,race and gender.
Results :The study included 38 male and 39 females
patients ,aged (35-95) years. Glomerular Filtration Rate in
patients wi