Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory disorder, the etiology and pathogenesis of which have been suggested to be influenced by cytokines. Two main clinical types of IBD are recognized, namely ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). The present study examined serum levels of two cytokines (IL-17A and IL-23) in 60 IBD patients (30 UC and 30 CD) and 30 healthy controls. The levels were correlated with age, gender, cigarette-smoking status, disease duration, family history, disease extension, symptoms, extra-intestinal manifestations, and medication. The results depicted that IL-17A level was significantly higher in UC and CD patients compared to control (45.2 ± 23.3 and 47.5 ± 34.4 vs. 15.6 ± 7.5 pg/ml, respectively; p < 0.001). Serum level of IL-23 was similarly increased in UC and CD patients compared to control (64.1± 23.7 and 62.5 ± 27.3 vs. 25.2 ± 11.1 pg/ml, respectively). However, the level of both cytokines showed no significant variation between UC and CD patients (p = 0.713 and 0.777, respectively). Distributing UC and CD patients into subgroups according to some characteristics revealed that IL-17A level was significantly increased in UC male compared to female patients (57.3 ± 18.2 vs. 34.5 ± 22.5 pg/ml; p = 0.005). It was also significantly increased in smoker UC patients compared with non-smoker patients (51.9 ± 19.4 vs. 31.6 ± 25.5 pg/ml; p = 0.022). Smoker CD patients also showed a significantly increased level of IL-23 compared to non-smoker patients (72.7 ± 28.5 vs. 52.2 ± 22.6 pg/ml; p = 0.038). In the case of family history, IL-23 level was significantly decreased in UC patients with a family history of IBD compared to CD patients with a family history (84.5 ± 24.3 vs. 50.4 ± 17.0 pg/ml.; p = 0.042). In conclusion, the present data suggest a role for IL-17A and IL-23 in the etiology and pathogenesis of UC and CD.
Ethanolic extracts of Thyme (Thymbra spicata) were tested for their inhibitory action on Paenibacillus larvae the causative agent of American foul brood with different concentration by using disc assay and mixed with culture media . Results showd that 3000mg / disc and 3000 mg / ml was the effective concentroation for the both methods .Thymol was isolated by using TLC technique . The effective concentration of thymol on growth of bacteria was 1000 mg / disc . Thymol and crude extracts of thyme 3000 mg / ml were tested on infected hives by mixed with sugar solution . The symptoms of AFB disease was full disappearance within 21 , 27 days after treatment with thymol and thyme
... Show MoreBackground: Hyperthyroidism occurs due to over production of thyroid hormones, one types of hyperthyroidism was Graves, disease. Hyperthyroidism is characterized by high level of serum thyroxin, triiodothyronine and low level of thyroid stimulated hormones. Material and Methods: fifty two hyperthyroid patients, thirty patients under treatment with carbimazole and other twenty two patients under treatment with radioactive iodine, and sixty healthy control group. The average salivary flow rate was calculated as ml/5mint.The concentration of calcium, potassium, and total protein were determined in the salivary supernatant sample. This is done through different biochemical tests. Determination of salivary IgA is done by ELIZA. Results: The most
... Show MoreBackground: Diabetes mellitus is a major risk factor for coronary artery disease, with a higher incidence of myocardial infarction and sudden death. Left ventricular dysfunction is difficult to diagnose and to differentiate into diastolic and systolic dysfunction on the basis of medical history, physical examination, electrocardiography (ECC) and chest radiography. Two-dimensional, M-mode, and Doppler echocardiography are excellent for diagnosing left ventricular dysfunction. M-mode echocardiography was used for diagnosing left ventricular systolic dysfunction, while Doppler echocardiography has become well accepted as a reliable, reproducible and practical noninvasive method for the diagnosis of left v
... Show MoreThe logistic regression model is one of the oldest and most common of the regression models, and it is known as one of the statistical methods used to describe and estimate the relationship between a dependent random variable and explanatory random variables. Several methods are used to estimate this model, including the bootstrap method, which is one of the estimation methods that depend on the principle of sampling with return, and is represented by a sample reshaping that includes (n) of the elements drawn by randomly returning from (N) from the original data, It is a computational method used to determine the measure of accuracy to estimate the statistics, and for this reason, this method was used to find more accurate estimates. The ma
... Show MoreAnaemia is a common extra-articular manifestation of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) where anaemia of chronic disease (ACD) and iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) are the two most frequent types. The distinction between these two types of anaemia has always been challenging requiring sophisticated techniques. Serum transferrin receptor (sTfR) a truncated soluble form of the transferrin receptor is one of the parameters that is influenced by the Iron content and supply to the erythrons and is not affected by inflammatory status and therefore the use of the sTfR/log ferritin (sTfR-F) index can be a reliable indicator of functional iron deficiency.
Oxidative stress plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of peripheral artery disease (PAD). This study aimed to investigate the effect of clopidogrel on oxidative stress in PAD patients. Seventy subjects were divided into three groups: PAD patients before treatment (B-PAD), PAD patients after treatment with clopidogrel (A-PAD), and healthy controls. Serum levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), and oxidized protein were measured. SOD activities were also determined. The results showed that SOD activities, and SOD specific activities were significantly decreased in PAD patients compared to healthy individuals. After treatment with clopidogrel, SOD activities, and SOD specific activities were continuous
... Show MoreBackground: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic and vascular illness associated with two to four times coronary artery disease (CAD) events and mortality which correlate well with fasting, postprandial plasma glucose and HbA1c level. Other factors such as aging, gender, smoking, dyslipidaemia and hypertension also play an important role in diabetic micro- and macro-vascular complications. Type 2 DM is reported now to be CAD equivalent.
Patients and Methods: A cross sectional study of 118 patients including 90 males and 28 females being 63 diabetics and 55 non-diabetics over the period from March-November 2007 in Iraqi center for cardiac diseases who were underwent coronary angiographic study.
Results
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a heterogeneous autoimmune disease characterized by elevated levels of circulating anti-nuclear autoantibodies and interferon-alpha (INFs-α). Interferon regulatory factor-5 (IRF5) plays an important role in the induction of type I interferon and pro-inflammatory cytokines, and participates in the SLE pathogenesis. This study aimed to investigate the role of IRF5 gene expression levels in a sample of SLE Iraqi patients and its correlation with disease activity, and to identify its diagnostic ability as a biomarker reflecting disease activity. Blood samples were taken from 45 participants diagnosed with SLE cases classified according to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria. T
... Show MoreBack ground: Celiac disease (CD) is an immune–mediated enteropathy induced by gluten with broad spectrum of presentation, many patients with atypical symptoms or clinically silent remain undiagnosed, and are at risk of long-term complications.
Objective: The aim of the present study is to determine the of prevalence celiac disease in children with short stature.
Patient and Methods: In this prospective study, 307 children 181(58.9%)males and 126(41.1%) females ,with ages ranging from 3 to 17.5years ( mean 12.2 ±3.4) with short statures (height below 3rd percentile adjusted for age and sex) attending the consultation room of endocrinology/ Welfare Teaching Hospital/medical city- Baghdad , were enrolled in this study from the firs
The electrical activity of the heart and the electrocardiogram (ECG) signal are fundamentally related. In the study that has been published, the ECG signal has been examined and used for a number of applications. The monitoring of heart rate and the analysis of heart rhythm patterns, the detection and diagnosis of cardiac diseases, the identification of emotional states, and the use of biometric identification methods are a few examples of applications in the field. Several various phases may be involved in the analysis of electrocardiogram (ECG) data, depending on the type of study being done. Preprocessing, feature extraction, feature selection, feature modification, and classification are frequently included in these stages. Ever
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