Toxoplasma gondii is an opportunistic pathogen in which the reactivation of a latent infection can cause death in congenitally infected fetuses, newborns, and immunocompromised patients. This study aimed to determine the seropositivity of toxoplasmosis infection and the possible association with Interleukin-12 (IL-12) and Interleukin-23 (IL-23) cytokines in breast cancer patients. In this study, 190 women were enrolled. All serum samples were tested for T. gondii immunoglobulins (IgG and IgM) antibodies and (IL-12, IL-23) levels using ELISA technique. The result of this study showed that breast cancer patients recorded the highest percentage of toxoplasmosis infection. There were no positivity rates for anti- Toxoplasma IgM in breast cancer patients while the positivity percentage for anti- Toxoplasma IgM among the control group was (7.00%). Furthermore, the seroprevalence of anti- Toxoplasma IgG was the highest in the age group (31- 40) years in patients with breast cancer while the highest mean titer of the IL-12 is restricted to ages (20-30) years in the control groups who are seropositive to anti- Toxoplasma IgG. Although, in patients with breast cancer who are seropositive to anti- Toxoplasma IgG, the highest mean titer of the IL-23 was in ages (20-30) years. Since most immunosuppressive patients are exposed to various possible risk factors including Toxoplasma primary infection or reactivation, so it is important to diagnose and treat toxoplasmosis in breast cancer patients to reduce the consequences of the infection.
Checkpoint inhibitors are a type of immune therapy used to treat different types of cancers. These drugs block different checkpoint proteins, for example, CTLA-4, PD-1, and PD-L1 inhibitors.
They block proteins that stop the immune system from attacking the cancer cells. Checkpoints are also described as a type of monoclonal antibody that antagonizes binding between B7 to CTLA-4 and PD-L1 to PD-1.
Immune checkpoint inhibitors are used to treat BARCA mutated triple-negative breast cancer (TNBCS) in patients who do not respond to chemotherapy, and also in the treatment of highly mutated and solid tumors such as brain tumors, liver, and pancreatic cancers.
Immune checkpoint inhibitors exhibit an effect on solid tumo
... Show MoreCerium Oxide Nanoparticles (CeO2 NPs) and β-carotene are natural-source products that have recently gained an increased interest as pharmaceutical additives because of their effectiveness in living systems, but the behavior of these substances varies according to factors and conditions. The above mentioned materials were evaluated in breast normal (HBL-100) and cancer cell lines (CAL-51 and MCF-7 ) by different techniques ; MTT assay for studying cytotoxic effects, morphological changes, sqPCR, including gene expression of caspases 8 and 9, and P53. All experiments were conducted on cell lines by the use of the materials alone as well as their combination.
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The current study aims to evaluate levels of metabolic hormones and lipid profile in a sample of growth hormone (GH) deficient patients. Seventy five GH deficient patients and twenty healthy subjects used as control group have been participated in this study during their attendance to the National Diabetic Center for Treatment and Research/Al-Mustansiriya University. The studied subjects’ ages were with a range (3-15 years). Blood samples were collected from the studied subjects to determine levels of basal GH, GH2 and GH3 after 1 hr and 1/30 hr provocation with clonidine, respectively; insulin like growth factor (IGF-1); levels of metabolic hormones [thyroid profile: triiodo
... Show MoreToxoplasma gondii is intracellular parasites, which infect a large proportion of the world's population, but uncommonly causes clinically significant disease .The present study was performed to estimate the prevalence of toxoplasmosis in Iraqi male. Venous blood samples were collected from healthy male age between (18-57) years attended the National blood transfusion centre in Baghdad from Oct, 2011 to Jan. 2012. Latex agglutination test (LAT) and Enzyme linked Immunosorbant Assay (ELISA), were used to detect anti-Toxoplasmosis IgM and IgG antibodies. The results showed significant differences between seropositive toxoplasmosis infections between LAT, 136/400 (34%) and ELISA - IgG, 121/400 (30.25%). The blood group phenotypes of the infe
... Show MoreThe aim of this study is to estimate the survival function for the data of lung cancer patients, using parametric methods (Weibull, Gumbel, exponential and log-logistic).
Comparisons between the proposed estimation method have been performed using statistical indicator Akaike information Criterion, Akaike information criterion corrected and Bayesian information Criterion, concluding that the survival function for the lung cancer by using Gumbel distribution model is the best. The expected values of the survival function of all estimation methods that are proposed in this study have been decreasing gradually with increasing failure times for lung cancer patients, which means that there is an opposite relationshi
... Show MoreEpilepsy is a central nervous system disease which is characterized by a recurrent seizure that distinguishes it from other similar diseases. Epilepsy may occur due to defects in genes that encode some receptors in the brain. For this reason, this study aimed to understand the association between Synapsin-2 (SYN2) gene and susceptibility to epilepsy. Blood samples were collected from 40 volunteers, including 30 patients suffering epilepsy with an age range of 26-49 years old and 10 healthy individuals with an age range of 25-53 years old. The study sample involved 16 males and 14 females with epilepsy along with 6 males and 4 females healthy subjects. DNA was isolated from the volunteers for PCR-RF
... Show MoreA biconical antenna has been developed for ultra-wideband sensing. A wide impedance bandwidth of around 115% at bandwidth 3.73-14 GHz is achieved which shows that the proposed antenna exhibits a fairly sensitive sensor for microwave medical imaging applications. The sensor and instrumentation is used together with an improved version of delay and sum image reconstruction algorithm on both fatty and glandular breast phantoms. The relatively new imaging set-up provides robust reconstruction of complex permittivity profiles especially in glandular phantoms, producing results that are well matched to the geometries and composition of the tissues. Respectively, the signal-to-clutter and the signal-to-mean ratios of the improved method are consis
... Show MoreBreast cancer (BC) is first of the top 10 malignancies in Iraq. Dose‐volume histograms (DVHs) are most commonly used as a plan evaluation tool. This study aimed to assess DVH statistics using three‐dimensional conformal radiotherapies in BC in an adjuvant setting.
A retrospective study of 70 histologically confirmed women diagnosed with BC was reviewed. The study was conducted between November 2020 and May 2021, planning for treatment with adjuvant three‐dimensional conformal radiotherapies. The treatment plan used for each woman was based on an analysis of the volumetric dose, inclu
Background: Psoriasis is a common inflammatory condition worldwide, with an average prevalence ranging from 2% to 3%. However, the incidence of psoriasis varies among different ethnic groups and regions. Elevated leptin levels have been associated with increased cellular proliferation, including T-cells. Additionally, high leptin levels may stimulate the synthesis of proinflammatory cytokines such as ILـ6 and TNFـα. Objectives: To evaluate the effect of Apremilast on Leptin in obese psoriatic patients. Subjects and Methods: Thirty patients with psoriasis were included in This prospective cohort study to measure the levels of serum Leptin by using the ELISA technique, before and after receiving Apremilast. Result: The present work
... Show MoreBreast cancer is one of the comments malignant tumors worldwide especially in Iraq; it is a leading cause of death in Iraqi women. Determination of estrogen and progesterone receptors status is helpful in selecting the patients most likely to receive benefit from endocrine therapy, and provide prognostic information on recurrence and survival since their expression is related to the degree of the tumor differentiation. From November 2012 to March 2013, 150 breast cancer patients at Al-Amal Hospital in Baghdad were attended to start treatment of disease for the first time. All patients included in this study did not receive chemotherapy. Patients were asked to bring their paraffin embedded tissue blocks to participate in estrogen, progest
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