Background:Pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has a poor prognosis, and novel therapies are needed. The FLT3 tyrosine kinase inhibitorsrepresents a promising target in pediatric AML.
Objectives:This study was done to estimate the frequency of FLT3- ITD mutation in childhood acute myeloid leukemia using conventional PCR & correlate this mutation with the clinical presentation and response to induction therapy.
Patients, Materials &Methods: Twenty children with AML, and 16 children with reactive bone marrow as negative control were enrolled in this study. Those patients were attending Child Welfare Teaching Hospital in Baghdad from March 2010 to July 2011 .For each patient hematological investigations including complete blood picture, and bone marrow aspiration were done.FLT3-ITD mutation was detected by conventional PCR technology using specific primers. Complete hematological remission achievement after induction chemotherapy was assessed by clinical examinations and full laboratory investigations.
Results: Out of 20 AML children who participated in this study, 2 (10%) had FLT3-ITD mutation. The mean age of patients who had the mutation was higher than those without the mutation; and the mutated patientswere males, (P> 0.05).The FLT3-ITD mutation showed no correlation to clinical presentation.The peripheral blood & bone marrow blast cell percent werenon significantly higherin mutated patients as compared to non mutated patients. Regardingits relation to FAB classification, the FLT3-ITD mutation was only detected in M3(1/20) and M3v(1/20), and no mutation was found in other subtypes(M1,M2,M5). Furthermore, mutated patients showed lower response to inductiontherapy as compared to non mutated patients.
Conclusions: This is a noval study in one Iraqi teaching hospital to detect FLT3-ITD mutation by using conventional PCR in children with AML. This mutation was detected in 10% of thosechildren , and since they were male,older age group,and presented with higher peripheral blood &bone marrow blast cell percent thus we may propose that it may be used as a marker for the aggressiveness of the disease and can be used to modulate the treatment strategy for those patients.
The mechanical function of the heart is governed by the contractile properties of the cells, the mechanical stiffness of the muscle and connective tissue, and pressure and volume loading conditions on the organ. Although ventricular pressures and volumes are available for assessing the global pumping performance of the heart, the distribution of stress and strain that characterize regional ventricular function and change in cell biology must be known. The mechanics of the equatorial region of the left, ventricle was modeled by a thick-walled cylinder. The tangential (circumferential) stress, radial stress and longitudinal stress in the wall of the heart have been calculated. There are also significant torsional shear in the wall during b
... Show MoreObjectives: This study aims to broaden our knowledge of the role of eDNA in bacterial biofilms and antibiotic-resistance gene transfer among isolates. Methods: Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were isolated from different non-repeated 170 specimens. The bacterial isolates were identified using morphological and molecular methods. Different concentrations of genomic DNA were tested for their potential role in biofilms formed by study isolates employing microtiter plate assay. Ciprofloxacin resistance was identified by detecting a mutation in gyrA and parC. Results: The biofilm intensity significantly decreased (P < 0.05) concerning S. aureus isolates and insignificantly (P > 0.05) concernin
... Show MoreBackground: Obesity is a public health concern worldwide associated with significant health risks and comorbid conditions. Obesity might be a strong factor that can induce left ventricular systolic dysfunction and eventually cause heart failure independent to coronary artery disease or other morbidities. In uncomplicated obese subjects, diastolic dysfunction is caused by hemodynamic and metabolic factors.
Objectives: To assess the left ventricular (systolic and diastolic) function in a sample of overweight and obese subjects using different Echocardiographic tools and exploring the percentage and type of diastolic dysfunction in those people.
Subjects and methods: one hundred seven (107) normal adult males subjects with a mean age
Background: CT (computed tomography) is one of the first noninvasive imaging techniques in diagnosis of intra-axial posterior fossa tumors because it can accurately demonstrate, localize and characterize brain tumors, and can provide important information about the anatomic location, size, shape of the lesions and their mass effect on adjacent structures.
Objectives: To evaluate multi detectors CT characteristics of intra axial posterior fossa tumors and correlation of the CT characteristics of intra- axial posterior fossa tumors with the histopathological findings.
Patients & Methods: This is a cross sectional study including 26 patients with intra-axial posterior fossa tumors,15 males &11 females ,three cases were exclude
Background: Excessive crying in early
infancy is a common condition that causes a
great deal of concern to the parents and
physician.
Objective: The aim of this study is to find
the underlying etiology of excessive crying in
infancy and to determine how the history,
physical examination, and laboratory
investigations contribute to the final diagnosis.
Method: A prospective study done on 150
afebrile infants less than 4 months of age
visited Al-Elwia hospital for children
complaining of excessive crying of more than
two hours.
The study done over a one year period from
the first of January 2009 to the end of
December 2009.
All febrile infants and those with acute illness
preceding the
The protozoan parasite Entamoeba histolytica is a causative agent of amoebiasis, where it causes millions of cases of dysentery and liver abscess each year. Metronidazole is a drug of choice against amoebiasis. The drug is a choice because of its efficacy and low cost, but at the same time it causes several adverse side effects; therefore, it is important to find effective medications to treat amoebiasis without any complications or any side effects. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of different concentrations (50, 75 and 100 µg/ml) of silver nanoparticle (AgNPs) against trophozoites stages of E. histolytica in vitro. The results showed a significant decrease (p ? 0.05) in numbers of trophozoites stages after treated
... Show MoreThe fish assemblage in the East Hammar marsh was studied during December 2009 to May 2010. The fish fauna of the marsh consisted of 17 native, 23 marine (49%) and seven alien species. The dominant species were Liza abu (14.6%), Carassius auratus (13.4%) and Thryssa mystax (11.2%). The resident species formed 44.7%, occasional species 36.1% and seasonal species 19.2% of the total number of fish species. Fish species diversity index ranged from 1.28 to 2.61, richness from 1.98 to 4.50 and evenness from 0.45 to 0.78. Salinity ranged from 1.45 to 7.74‰. The increase in the proportion of marine species (49%) in the fish assemblage due to marine waters progress from Arabian Gulf had an impact on the values of ecological indices and the
... Show MoreBackground: ;Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major cause of chronic liver disease. Approximately 85% of patients acutely infected with HCV progress to chronic liver disease with persistence of HCV-RNA for more than 6 months Among patients with chronic HCV infection , 15-20% progress to end-stage liver disease main transmission methods of the virus is by : blood and blood products ; sharing needles and acupuncture .Objective: To evaluate Iraqi patients infected with chronic HCV, including their treatment, and factors that affect their response to treatment .Methods :This study was performed at Gastroenterology and Hepatology hospital in Baghdad from January 2011 to March 2012.The study enrolled 90 patients with HCV Antibody positive (Ab +ve)
... Show MoreInformation systems and data exchange between government institutions are growing rapidly around the world, and with it, the threats to information within government departments are growing. In recent years, research into the development and construction of secure information systems in government institutions seems to be very effective. Based on information system principles, this study proposes a model for providing and evaluating security for all of the departments of government institutions. The requirements of any information system begin with the organization's surroundings and objectives. Most prior techniques did not take into account the organizational component on which the information system runs, despite the relevance of
... Show MoreThe interplay of species in a polluted environment is one of the most critical aspects of the ecosystem. This paper explores the dynamics of the two-species Lokta–Volterra competition model. According to the type I functional response, one species is affected by environmental pollution. Whilst the other degrades the toxin according to the type II functional response. All equilibrium points of the system are located, with their local and global stability being assessed. A numerical simulation examination is carried out to confirm the theoretical results. These results illustrate that competition and pollution can significantly change the coexistence and extinction of each species.