Objective(s): To measure serum C-reactive protein (CRP) titer as a predictive diagnosis of acute hepatitis C virus (HCV)
infection.
Methodology: Two hundred and ten patients with acute HCV infection and 234 apparently healthy individuals as
control group were enrolled in this study in Baghdad medical city (Teaching Laboratories). The patents include
74(35.2%) females and 136 (64.8%) males with mean age (27±16.5) years. The control group includes 114 (48.7%)
females and 120 (51.3%) males with mean age (26±5.8) years. Blood samples were collected from out patients from
Alfadul in Baghdad city. Sera were separated and stored at 20 0
C. The diagnosis of acute HCV infection was based on
detection of HC Ag and anti- HCV IgM and standard liver function tests. Determination of CRP titer was assessed by
semi-quantitative tube agglutination test. All data were statistically analyzed.
Results: Based on 95% percentile, the baseline CRP titer in healthy individuals was 1:8 (16mg/l) and for patients 1:512
(1024mg/l). There was a statistically significant increase in the mean CRP titer in patients with acute HCV infection
compared to healthy individuals (P< 0.001) .The validly of CRP titer 1: 64 as a cut –off value to predict HCV infection
provide a sensitivity and specificity of 100 % and 96% respectively. Furthermore, there was a significant correlation
between CRP titer and liver function test values.
Recommendation:
Therefore, in further studies, we recommends the evaluation of C- reactive protein titer in patients with acute
hepatitis B Virus infection and patients with non–infectious diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus
and hyperlipidemia infection, and compare between them.
This study evaluated yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) larvae meal as an alternative animal-protein ingredient in diets for common carp (Cyprinus carpio) fingerlings. Two diets were compared for 60 days: a conventional fish-meal diet (T1; 32.09% crude protein) and a diet in which the animal-protein component was replaced weight-for-weight with T. molitor meal (T2; 23.88% crude protein). Each treatment was tested in duplicate tanks containing 28 fingerlings per tank, and growth was assessed over three consecutive 20-day phases. The initial mean body weight was 3.21 g. Weight gain differed significantly between treatments (p < 0.05), with the highest total value recorded in T2 (4.87 ± 0.47 g). The T2 diet produced a significantly higher fee
... Show MoreMycobacterium tuberculosis is the cause of the major world health issue, tuberculosis (TB). The cytokine, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) has been implicated in protection against TB in the early stages of the disease. TNF-α is an effective cytokine in the killing of intracellular M. tuberculosis. This study inducted to investigate whether there is any relationship between levels of TNF-α in sera of TB patients and their recovery, and is there any difference in the level of this cytokine in sera of female and male TB patients. This study included 29 patients with pulmonary TB (18 female and 11 male), their ages ranging from 37 to 59 years. All of them received first line TB therapy. They were consulted at Pasture Center during Septem
... Show MoreOut of 150 clinical samples, 50 isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae were identified according to morphological and biochemical properties. These isolates were collected from different clinical samples, including 15 (30%) urine, 12 (24%) blood, 9 (18%) sputum, 9 (18%) wound, and 5 (10%) burn. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) assay revealed that 25 (50%) of isolates were resistant to gentamicin (≥16µg/ml), 22 (44%) of isolates were resistant to amikacin (≥64 µg/ml), 21 (42%) of isolates were resistant to ertapenem (≥8 µg/ml), 18 (36%) of isolates were resistant to imipenem (4- ≥16µg/ml), 43 (86%) of isolates were resistant to ceftriaxone (4- ≥64 µg/ml), 42 (84%) of isolates were resistant to ceftazidime (1
... Show MoreThe aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of listening to music or Quran in reducing cancer patients’ anxiety before chemotherapy administration. Reducing anxiety in people with cancer, prior to chemotherapy administration, is a crucial goal in nursing care.
An experimental comparative study was conducted.
A simple randomization sampling method was applied. Two hundred thirty‐eight people with cancer who underwent chemotherapy were participated. They are assigned as Quran, music and control groups.
The ABO blood group system is highly polymorphic, with more than 20 distinct sub-groups; study findings are usually related to ABO phenotype, but rarely to the ABO genotype and animal models are unsatisfactory because their antigen glycosylation structure is different from humans. Both the ABO and Rh blood group systems have been associated with a number of diseases, but this is more likely related to the presence or absence of these tissue antigens throughout the body and not directly or primarily related to their presence on RBCs. A total of fifty-two 52 patients without complication of DMII, two hundred sixteen 216 patients with complication of DMII and seventy-one 71 person as healthy control were included in the study. The resu
... Show MoreBackground: Chronic myeloid leukemia is a cancer of the white blood cells characterized by the increased and unregulated growth of predominantly myeloid cells in the bone marrow. This study aimed to determine the effect of chronic myeloid leukemia on Dental caries and Oral health status including Gingivitis, Loss of attachment, Plaque index and Calculus index as well as evaluation of salivary flow rate and salivary interleukins-6 and tumor necrosis factor-?. Material and methods: Study group consisted of (75) subjects, (25) were newly diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia, (25) were taking medications (Glevic), and (25) were control subjects, all ag
... Show MoreAcromegaly is ametabolic disorder characterized by an acquired progressive somatic disfigurement, mainly involving the face, extremities and many other organs, that are associated with systemic manifestations, caused by excessive secretion of growth hormone and a resultant persistent elevation of insulin-like growth factor-I concentrations. In more than 90% of cases originates from a monoclonal benign pituitary adenoma. Aim of this study to assess the level of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) in saliva of acromegalic patients, and to compare it with the basal levels of serum IGF-I. Sixty specimens of serum and saliva collected from two groups of subjects (forty acromegalic patients and twenty healthy persons). The specimens were
... Show MoreUropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) is problematic and still the leading cause of urinary tract infections worldwide. It is developed resistance against most antibiotics. The investigation, surveillance system, and efficient strategy will facilitate selecting an appropriate treatment that could control the bacterial distribution. The present study aims to investigate the epidemiology and associated risk factors of uropathogenic E. coli and to study their antibiotic resistance patterns. 1585 midstream urine specimens were collected from symptomatic urinary tract infections (UTI) patients (225 males and 1360 females) admitted to Zakho emergency hospital, Zakho, Kurdistan Region, Iraq from January 2016 until the end of December 2
... Show MoreDue to high blood sugar over long periods, the incidence and prevalence of type 2 diabetes are increasing throughout the world. Diabetic complications include microvascular and macrovascular complications that target the kidneys, nerves, eyes, and heart. Hence, the current study aimed to investigate the levels of (CTGF) and (TGF-β1) for both men and women and to demonstrate the effect of sex on it. In addition, some related biochemical factors in patients with diabetes and diabetic nephropathy are compared with those in healthy controls. The study included 120 males and females with an age range of (30-65) years old. Ninety patients with type 2 diabetes were subdivided into three groups on the basis of ACR criteria. All the individ
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