Reactive arthritis (ReA) is an incendiary joint inflammation that occurs few days to weeks after a gastrointestinal or genitourinary infection. The etiology of the disease is not well-known. Therefore, the present study included 80 females and 25 males, divided into 51 patients with reactive arthritis and 54 healthy individuals as control group. The study involved the detection of serum levels of anti-rheumatoid factor and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies (anti-CCP) as well as those of CRP and C3 in all subjects. In addition, EBV levels were detected by Real Time-PCR technique. The results showed significantly increased levels (P < 0.05) of CRP, C3 and anti-CCP Ab in ReA patients’ group compared to the healthy control group (505.42 ± 402.94 versus 255.62 ± 135.5 U/ml, 61.20 ± 100.64 versus 20.43 ± 47.63 ng/ml and 35.11 ± 30.0 versus 6.82 ± 14.01 pg/ml, respectively), Also, the RF results demonstrated a significantly increased percentage in ReA patients’ group compared to a healthy control group (61.11 versus 37.25 %). While, the molecular study showed a non-significant increase in the percentage of EBV in ReA patients’ group compared to a healthy control group (17.65 versus 12.69 %). The results of this study lead to suggest that the immunological markers used may play a role in the development of ReA disease, while there was a non-significant association between EBV infection and ReA disease development.
Background: The skin functions as a barrier to the external environment, damage to this barrier following a burn disrupts the innate immune system and increases susceptibility to bacterial infection. Objective: This study was carried out to determine the bacterial isolates and study their antimicrobial susceptibility in burned wound infections at one burn's hospital in Baghdad.Type of study:Cross-sectional study.Methods: The bacteria were identified at species level by using Analytic Profile Index (API) system and The antimicrobial susceptibility test was performed according to Kirby-Bauer (disk diffusion) technique.Results: Over a period of one year (from October 2014 to October 2015). Out of 848 patients with different degrees of burns
... Show MoreBackground: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disorder of the carbohydrate, protein and fat metabolism, resulting in increased blood glucose levels. Various complications of diabetes have been described with periodontitis being added as the sixth complication of diabetes mellitus. Matrix metalloproteinase-8 (MMP-8) has been identified as major tissue-destructive enzyme in periodontal disease. MMP-8 is released from neutrophils in a latent, inactive pro form and becomes activated during periodontal inflammation by independent and/or combined actions of host-derived inflammatory mediators .C-reactive protein is a systemic marker released during the acute phase of an inflammatory response. Subjects, materials and methods: Total samples
... Show MoreBackground: The gene responsible for encoding the protein of cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4) has been found to be associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in different ethnic populations. But the association of +49A/G CTLA-4 polymorphism with susceptibility of RA among Iraqi Arab populations has not yet been determined. Methods: One hundred and seventy-eight patients were examined, 67 of them were males (mean age 54.71 ± 10.4 years), while 167 were examined for the control group, of whom 64 were males and the rest were females. CTLA-4 DNA genotyping was carried on to determine the +49 A/G (rs231775) polymorphism using a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Enzyme-linked immuno
... Show MoreObjective: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients have increased morbidity and mortality from premature cardiovascular (CV) disease (CVD). Framingham risk score (FRS) is a simplified coronary prediction tool developed to enable clinicians to assess the risk of a cardiovascular event and to identify candidate patients for risk factors modifications worldwide. The predictive ability of the FRS varies between populations, ethnic groups, and socio-economic status. The aim of this study is to find if there is any correlation between the Framingham risk score and the inflammatory and biochemical parameters used to measure disease activity and functional ability in Iraqi patients with active RA.
Background: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukins play important roles in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Genetic research has been employed to find many of the missing connections between genetic risk variations and causal genetic components. Objective: The goal of this study is to look at the genetic variations of TNF-α and interleukins in Iraqi RA patients and see how they relate to disease severity or response to biological therapy. Method: Using specific keywords, the authors conducted a systematic and comprehensive search to identify relevant Iraqi studies examining the genetic variations of TNF-α and interleukins in Iraqi RA patients and how they relate to disease severity or response to biolo
... Show MoreThe present study was performed to evaluate the level of some risk factors (biochemical and immunological) in hypothyroid Iraqi patients considering the different thyroid functional states (hypothyroidism and subclinical hypothyroidism).The study includes 82 patients clinically diagnosed with hypothyroidism. Three study groups have been investigated: (47 clinical hypothyroid patients, 12 subclinical hypothyroid patients 23 healthy individuals) of different ages. This study, show that the proportion of females (83.3 %), (87.2%) in subclinical and clinical hypothyroidisim respectively higher than the proportion of males (16.7%),(12.8%) in subclinical and clinical hypothyrodism respectively of the total patients.The majority of subclinical hyp
... Show MoreBackground: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is caused of 85% of all lung cancers. Among the most important factors for lung tumor growth and proliferation are the tyrosine kinase receptors that coded by the epidermal growth factor recep-tor (EGFR) gene. Activation of EGFR ultimately leads to developing of lung cancer. The present study was undertaken with an objective to detect EGFR mutations in bronchial wash from Iraqi patients with NSCLC before treatment. Methods: DNA was extracted from bronchial wash samples collected from 50 patients with NSCLC by using a Qiamp DNA Mini Kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany). Then, EGFR mutations were determined by using real-time RCR combined with two technologies, Amplification Refractory Mutation System (
... Show MoreBackground: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is caused of 85% of all lung cancers. Among the most important factors for lung tumor growth and proliferation are the tyrosine kinase receptors that coded by the epidermal growth factor recep-tor (EGFR) gene. Activation of EGFR ultimately leads to developing of lung cancer. The present study was undertaken with an objective to detect EGFR mutations in bronchial wash from Iraqi patients with NSCLC before treatment. Methods: DNA was extracted from bronchial wash samples collected from 50 patients with NSCLC by using a Qiamp DNA Mini Kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany). Then, EGFR mutations were determined by using real-time RCR combined with two technologies, Amplification Refractory Mutation System (
... Show More