Fibroblast growth factors-23 (FGF-23) are a class of cell signaling proteins produced by macrophages. They have a range of roles, but they play a particularly important role in the development of animal cells, where they are essential for appropriate growth. Phosphate, which is found in the body as both organic and mineral phosphate, plays crucial roles in cell structure, communication, and metabolism. Most phosphate in the body resides in bone, teeth, and inside cells, with less than 1% circulating in serum. The aim of the study is to evaluate the levels of the Fibroblast Growth Factors-23 and phosphate and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) in acromegaly patients against healthy control. A case control study Fibroblast Growth Fact

Objectives: The study aimed to assess the level of pediatric nurses' knowledge toward children with Guillain-Barre
syndrome (GBS) and to find out the relationships between nurses' knowledge and their demographic data.
Methodology: A purposive “non probability” sample of (30) nurses was selected from medical neurological wards and
Respiratory Care Units of Children Welfare Pediatric Teaching Hospital, Child’s Center Pediatric Teaching Hospital,
AL-Kadhemia Teaching Hospital, Baghdad Teaching Hospital, and Neurological Science Hospital which has started
from March 5
th 2009 to April 30th 2009. The study instrument consists of two parts. The first part is concerned with
nurses' demographical characteristic and the

         Toxoplasma gondii is an protozoan intracellular coccidian protozoan parasite. Latent toxoplasmosis threat to immunocompetent individuals. Diabetic patients are more susceptible to infect with toxoplasmosis due to their low level of immunity response. The purpose of this research is to define the association between toxoplasmosis and diabetes mellitus and detection serum levels of chemokines (monocyte chemoattractant protien-1 and transforming growth factor-β) in diabetic patients infected with toxoplasmosis. Serum samples were collected from 120 diabetic patients and 50 healthy individuals as a control group  from the Imamein Kadhimein Medical City in Baghdad. In order&nbs

     This study was designed to evaluate the antimicrobial effect of Cymbopogon citratus and Mentha spicata essential oils, separately and mixed, against the microorganisms in yogurt, as well as study the possibility of these essential oils (EO) as natural preservatives and flavors additives/enhancers in yogurt product. Yogurt samples were treated with lemongrass and spearmint EOin different concentrations (250, 500, 1000 ppm: 6250µg/50 ml yogurt, 12500 µg/50 ml yogurt and 25000 µg/50 ml yogurt respectively). The control and treated samples were preserved both at room (25°C) and refrigerator (5°C)  temperatures. In control, the contamination was observed through 2 weeks at 25°C and for about one month at 5°C

Potentially inappropriate prescribing is the prescribing of a medication that may cause more harm than benefit, the elderly population aged 65 years or older is more prone to potentially inappropriate prescribing because of alterations in their physiology, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics as well as polypharmacy and comorbidities, Beers list is a screening tool that help doctors to detect potentially inappropriate prescribing in geriatric patients and is designed to solve this problem, the aim of this study is to measure the prevalence of potentially inappropriate prescribing among psychiatric patients using the Beers criteria as an assessment tool and find the relationship between duration of hospitalization, comorbidities and pol

Tuberculosis is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis; it is considered as one of the most common, infectious diseases and major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. A prospective study was conducted to obtain more clarification about the impact of causative agent and its treatment to enhance autoantibodies production such as ANCA and BPI which used as diagnostic markers for several diseases, and to provide further insight into the classical risk factors (age and sex).Seventy patients with tuberculosis involved in this study, 35 of them were untreated and 35 with treatment administration these patients were attending to directorate of general health national reference laboratory in Baghdad during the period between November/ 2012

Background: Cytokines produced by inflammatory cells play a pivotal role in synovial inflammation and joint destruction in rheumatoid arthritis.
Patients and Methods: The cytokine serum levels were measured by EASIA (Enzyme amplified sensitivity immunoassay) in sera from 50 RA patients, and 40 healthy donors. Cytokine levels were compared in different RA subpopulations (positive or negative rheumatoid factor (RF), long term or recent onset disease, high or low disease activity). In addition, the possible association with other demographic and clinical parameters (gender, age, etc) was also analyzed.
Results: It was demonstrated that IL-2, IL-6 and IFN-δ levels were elevated in serum samples of RA pati

Background: The coexistence of renal and heart failure carries an extremely bad prognosis. The exact cause of deterioration of kidney function and the mechanism underlying this interaction are complex, multifactorial in nature, and still not completely understood. Both the heart and the kidney act in tandem to regulate blood pressure, vascular tone, diuresis, natriuresis, etc.
Patients and methods: Sixty patients mean age 65.5 year were complaining heart failure duo to different causes assessed for renal function (blood urea &creatinine) and cardiac function by echocardiography in day 0 and 10 day after treatment of heart failure.
Results: The mean value (±S.D) of blood urea and serum creatinine on day 0 were 64.17mg/dL (±30.

Background: To shade a light on certain tumor markers and their sensitivity and specificity in determination of pancreatic cancer.
Patients & Methods :- A total of 35 patients with pancreatic cancer were studied between June 2003 and April 2004 in Specialized Surgical - Baghdad Teaching Hospital . These patients were compared with other 25 non malignant G.I diseases patients as well as 35 healthy controls . The serum was estimated for CAI 9-9 , and CEA by ELFA (Enzyme Linked Fluorescent Assay) method and CPR by ELISA method.
Results :- Five patients with pancreatic cancer were excluded from this study because they were beyond surgery.The results show that there is significant differences between se

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a principle cause of microangiopathy and the main reason for kidney disease at the end stage in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This work aimed to study the relation of pentosidine with kidney injury in the case of diabetic nephropathy. This study included 75 patients suffering from T2DM and 75 apparently healthy subjects. The patients group was divided into three groups ((normoalbumin, microalbuminuria, and macroalbuminuria; 25 patients for each) on the basis of albumin-creatinine ratio (ACR) . The level of serum pentosidine was determined using an ELISA kit. The level of pentosidine was found to be significantly higher in DN patients than in the healthy group. Also, the results revealed a str