Background. Alopecia areata (AA) is a common form of noncicatricial hair loss of unknown cause, affecting 0.1-0.2% of the general population. Most evidence supports the hypothesis that it is disease of the hair follicle of autoimmune nature mediated by T-cells, with important cytokine role. Objective of the Study. The objective of this study is to study the association and changes in serum levels of interleukin-15 (IL-15) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in patients with AA in relation to the type, activity, and disease duration. Patients and Methods. Thirty-eight patients with AA and 22 individuals without the disease as controls were enrolled in this case-controlled study conducted in the Department of Dermatology in the Al-K

Toxoplasmosis is a widespread infection usually caused by Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) parasite. It occurs in humans and other warm blooded animals, causing severe problems. It was found that there is an alteration in the trace elements concentrations levels associated with some human diseases. This study aimed to investigate the changes in the concentrations of some trace elements (Mg, Fe , Zn, and Cu) in the sera of 60 immunocompetent patients with chronic toxoplasmosis and 82 healthy individuals as a control group. Measuring the serum level of seropositivity rate of anti-T. gondii antibodies was done by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) Kit, while the concentrations of trace elements were measured by absorption spectrophotometry

Background: The systemic host modulation therapy is new approach in treatment of periodontal diseases. Materials and methods:The target of this treatment is the host response to microbial infection because at present time,it is well known that most of damage found in periodontal diseases cause by the inflammatory -immune response to periodontal infections.Sub-antimicrobial-dose Doxycycline (SDD) is a 20-mg dose of Doxycycline (Periostat) that is approved and indicated as an adjunct to scaling and root planning (SRP) in the treatment of chronic periodontitis. Results:At present, SDD (Periostat) is the only systemically administered agent that is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and accepted by the American Dental Asso

A high sensitivity, low power and low cost sensor has been developed for photoplethysmography (PPG) measurement. The PPG principle was applied to follow the dilatation and contraction of skin blood vessels during the cardiac cycle. A standard light emitting diodes (LEDs) has been used as a light emitter and detector, and in order to reduce the space, cost and power, the classical analogue-to-digital converters (ADCs) replaced by the pulse-based signal conversion techniques. A general purpose microcontroller has been used for the implementation of measurement protocol. The proposed approach leads to better spectral sensitivity, increased resolution, reduction in cost, dimensions and power consumption. The basic sensing configuration prese

The activity of the aqueous extract of Olea europaea was tested at concentrations of 8, 15 or 20 mg/kg of body weight on lipid profile in twenty female local rabbits. These animals were randomly divided into four groups (five animals in each group). Three groups were dosed orally with the concentrations mentioned above, while the last was administered with distilled water and considered as a control group. These animals were orally dosed by aqueous extract using a micropipette for 30 days. The results showed that there was a significant (P<0.05) decrease in cholesterol, triglycerides, low density lipoprotein (LDL-cholesterol), very low density lipoprotein (VLDL-cholesterol) concentrations and atherosclerosis index means for the three trea

Background: 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