Human beta-defenses (hBDs) are antimicrobial peptides involved in innate immune protection, and their association with the risk of respiratory allergy has been proposed. Therefore, this study sought to evaluate this association in allergic rhinitis (AR) and asthma (AS) of Iraqi patients. A case-control study was conducted to investigate serum levels of hBD1, hBD2, hBD3, and hBD4 in 52 AR and 60 AS patients and 61 healthy controls (HC). The hBDs were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. Results revealed that median levels of hBD1, hBD2, and hBD3 were significantly elevated in the serum of AR and AS patients compared with HC (p < 0.01). Levels of hBD4 were also elevated in AR and AS patients but the differences were not significant. The levels of hBDs showed no significant differences between AR and AS patients. Age, gender, symptoms, and disease duration of patients influenced some of these variations. Logistic regression analysis indicated that hBD3 was the most important marker associated with the risk of AR and AS, and the estimated Odds ratios were 25.31 (95% confidence interval: 2.97-215.78; p = 0.012) and 32.20 (95% confidence interval: 2.49-415.89; pc = 0.032), respectively. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed that hBD3 occupied a very good area under the curve in AR and AS (0.83 and 0.84, respectively). In conclusion, the role of hBDs in the pathogenesis of AR and AS was indicated. In this context, hBD3 was the most important, and its association with the risk of developing AR and AS was suggested.
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a serious disease of the liver and signifies a major worldwide health concern. HBV Genotyping is vital for further epidemiological study, predicting the disease outcome and response to treatment. The current study aimed to determine hepatitis B virus genotypes in patients with chronic hepatitis B, and to validate possible associations with the baseline characteristics of the disease. A total of 90 patients with chronic hepatitis B infection were enrolled in this study. Liver function tests, hepatitis B virus markers and DNA viral load were done using routine standardized procedures. HBV genotyping was performed using real time PCR. Genotype D was the most predominant in 64 (71.1%) of samples, while
... Show MoreBackground: In type 2 diabetes mellitus there is a progressive loss of beta cell function. One new
approach yielding promising results is the use of the orally active dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4)
inhibitors for type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Objective: This study aims at comparing the possible occurrence of macrovascular & microvascular
complications in Iraqis patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus using two combinations of drugs
metformin + glibenclamide and metformin + sitagliptin.
Methodology: Sixty eight T2DM patients and 34 normal healthy individuals as control group were
enrolled in this study and categorized in to two treatment groups. The group 1 (34 patients ) received
metformin 500 mg three times daily
Urinary tract infections (UTI) caused by methicillin resistant staphylococci are a
growing problem for many health care institutions especially when it correlates with
biofilms formation of these isolates on living and nonliving surfaces. The prevalence
of staphylococci from UTI were studied and it was found that S.epidermidis are
higher prevalence than S.aureus 55.5% ( 10 out of 18) and 26.6% ( 8 out of 30) were
methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus isolates (MRSA) and methicillin resistant
staphylococcus epidermidis (MRSE), respectively. Biofilm formation on microtiter
plates revealed that MRSE isolates was more efficient in biofilm production than its
counterpart MRSA.
Thirty serum samples of patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis after screening of rheumatoid factor, C-reactive protein and ESR were collected and including in present study to detect the IgG antibody against Chlamydia pneumoniae by ELISA test. The results showed only 2(6%) patients had seropositive of C. pneumoniae, this lead to suggest that C. pneumoniae may be one of the etiological or trigger factor in patients of rheumatoid arthritis.
This study designed to examine association between-174G/C polymorphism of interleukin-6 gene and phosphate, calcium, vitamin D3, and parathyroid hormone levels in Iraqi patient with chronic kidney disease on maintenance hemodialysis. Seventy chronic renal failure patients (patients group) and 20 healthy subjects (control group) were genotyped for interleukin-6 polymorphism and genotyping was performed by conventional polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. No significant differences in phosphate levels were observed in patients and control with different interleukin-6 genotypes. Control had non-significant differences in calcium levels, while patients with GG and CG genotypes displayed significant e
... Show MoreThe impact of exposure to different sizes of particulate matter (PM1, PM2.5, PM7, and PM10) was evaluated in Babylon concrete plant workers who had been exposed to concrete dust for at least 10 years. The effects of these particles on the hematological parameters, malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, and antioxidant enzymes (catalase and glutathione peroxidase ) were examined. The results exhibited that the levels of PM2.5 and PM10 were higher than the acceptable limits approved by the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The blood parameters, namely white blood cells (WBC), red blood cell (RBC) and platelets counts, demonstrated non-significant differences between workers exposed to the PM as compared to the control gro
... Show MoreThe impact of exposure to different sizes of particulate matter (PM1, PM2.5, PM7, and PM10) was evaluated in Babylon concrete plant workers who had been exposed to concrete dust for at least 10 years. The effects of these particles on the hematological parameters, malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, and antioxidant enzymes (catalase and glutathione peroxidase ) were examined. The results exhibited that the levels of PM2.5 and PM10 were higher than the acceptable limits approved by the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The blood parameters, namely white blood cells (WBC), red blood cell (RBC) and platelets counts, demonstrated non-significant differences between w
... Show MoreAutoimmune thyroid disease mainly includes Graves’ disease (GD) and autoimmune hypothyroidism (AIH), which is caused by individual genetics, autoimmune dysfunction, and a variety of external environmental factors. Interleukin IL-38 and IL- 40 are involved in a wide range of autoimmune diseases, but little is known about IL-38 and IL-40 expression in autoimmune thyroid disease. This research included 82 female patients with Graves' disease (GD), 78 females with autoimmune hypothyroidism (AIH), and 85 female healthy controls (HC). An enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and sequencing of IL-38 and IL-40 were used to evaluate serum levels and gene polymorphism, respectively. Results showed
... Show MoreThis study was designed to highlight the role of Epstein Barr viruses (EBV) as a possible causative effect in multiple sclerosis (MS) through testing the viral load along with both biochemical and immunological parameters in female MS patients. We also aimed at finding the effects of different types of treatment line on the various study aspects. The results of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) revealed first an increased level of EBV EBNA1IgG IL-17A (96.13±27.60 pg/ml) in sera of female MS patients (0.05±0.01 U/ml, n=50) compared with the control group (n=40). We confirmed this result using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) which also showed a significantly higher EBV load in MS patients (22.61±12.72 copi
... Show MoreThe current work aims to evaluate the association between genetic mutations in thymidylate synthetase (