Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder that is highly prevalent, leading to gradual cartilage distraction, and therefore is important to diagnose in the early stage. This study aimed to estimate the level of rheumatoid factor (RF) and Anti-citrullinated protein (Anti-ccp) in the serum of female patients. We also investigated several female reproductive hormones in the patients and compared their levels in the premenopausal and postmenopausal phases. The study included 88 female subjects, 50 suffering from signs of rheumatoid arthritis who were attending AL-Yarmouk teaching hospital, Baghdad, Iraq, and 38 without clinical signs of RA as a control group. The ELISA technique was used to estimate all the studied parameters. The results showed a significant elevation in the levels of RF (103.6 ± 227.0 vs. 22.1 ± 111.0 U/ml) and Anti-ccp (158.0 ± 170.0 vs. 0.51 ± 1.69 U/ml) in patient’s serum as compared to the control. The percentage of overweight and obese patients was higher than that of those with normal weight. Also, the current results showed significant differences in the serum concentrations of the reproductive hormones between the premenopausal and postmenopausal phases in the patients group. The level of FSH in postmenopausal female patients was higher than that in premenopausal ones (33.5 ± 17.9 vs. 9.01 ± 9.31 U/ml). Also, the level of luteinizing hormone (LH) in the postmenopausal patients was higher than that in the premenopausal patients (26.4 ± 12.3 vs. 12.7 ± 10.2 U/ml). While the level of prolactin (PRL) in RA postmenopausal female patients was lower than that in the premenopausal patients (8.60 ± 7.07 vs. 14.8 ± 10.6 ng/ml). In addition, the level of Anti-mullerian hormone (AMH) in post-menopausal patients was lower than that in the pre-menopausal ones (0.034 ± 0.023 vs. 0.635 ± 0.683 ng/ml). Finally, the concentration of estradiol (E2) in the post-menopausal female patients was lower than that in the pre-menopausal ones (32.9 ± 18.6 vs. 76.5 ± 43.6 ng/ml).
In this article four samples of HgBa2Ca2Cu2.4Ag0.6O8+δ were prepared and irradiated with different doses of gamma radiation 6, 8 and 10 Mrad. The effects of gamma irradiation on structure of HgBa2Ca2Cu2.4Ag0.6O8+δ samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction. It was concluded that there effect on structure by gamma irradiation. Scherrer, crystallization, and Williamson equations were applied based on the X-ray diffraction diagram and for all gamma doses, to calculate crystal size, strain, and degree of crystallinity. I
... Show More