Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is one of the most common infections associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) in Iraq.

Aim of the study: To determine the prognostic factor value of Programmed Cell Death-1 (PD-1) and Programmed Cell Death Ligand-1 (PD-L1) immune checkpoint biomarkers among CKD patients with HCV infection under HD.

Methodology: ELISA technique was used for the measurement of the above-mentioned biomarkers in the serum of 90 Iraqi patients. The participants were divided into three groups; Group I included 30 patients infected with HCV without antiviral treatment, group II included 30 patients infected wit

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis is a common chronic and destructive autoimmune arthropathy .Treatment with infliximab gives great improvement to a large numbers of patients with RA ,however, in some patients after prolonged treatment infliximab can induce anti-infliximab antibodies formation and result to loss of infliximab efficacy and active persistent disease.
Objective: to investigate the frequency of anti-infliximab antibodies in Iraqi patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
Patients and methods: fifty Iraqi RA patients(36 females and 14 males) compared with 50 control( 25 healthy control and 25 case control (patients with RA on other treatment) ) were included in this study from begging of March 201

Background: Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA)minor subsets (elastase , lysozyme , cathepsin G , lactoferrin & BPI )are detected among systemic lupus erythromatus patients causing vasculitis. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is the prototypic immune complex disease, characterized by excessive autoantibody production, immune complex formation and immunologically mediated tissue injury.
Methods& Patients: A cross-sectional study was conducted on two main groups ,74 patients with SLE and 30 apperantly healthy control volunteers referred to immunology department in teaching laboratories \ medical city during period of (1st of march – 31st of May) 2011. Antinuclear antibody (ANA) ,Cathepsin&n

Background: Cerebral ischemia associated with Antiphospholipid Syndrome(APS) is a common arterial manifestation in adults.
Objectives: To look for the frequency of Antiphospholipid Antibodies (aPL), and their relation with other risk factors in young patients with cerebral ischemia.
Patients and methods: A retrospective study of 40 young patient’s ≤ 50 years with stroke collected from medical and neurological wards of Baghdad Teaching Hospital (BTH) from January - December 2009. All were inquired about the presence of risk factors of stroke, and sent for aPL including Anticardiolipin (ACL) and Lupus Anticoagulant (LA).
Results: Eight (20%) had ACL. Nine (22.5%) had LA. Both were present in 6(15%). ACL and/or LA were present

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is still a major global public health problem worldwide. The global prevalence of Mycobacterium (M tuberculosis) infection has been estimated in 32% of the world population with more than 8 million new cases diagnosed each year.

Materials and Methods: A total of 192 M tuberculosis complex isolates were collected from patients with positive sputum smear who had been treated previously with the four main anti- tuberculosis drugs for more than two months. The isolates were identified by their colonial morphology, pigmentation, shapes on Ziehl-Neelsen smears, growth on Löwenstein-Jenson medium and biochemical tests as niacin and nitrate tests. A propor

Background: Family history of type 2 diabetes is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is characterized by progressive β-cell dysfunction; many investigators have used C peptide levels as a biomarker of β-cell function.

Objective: the current study was design to investigate the impact of family history on biochemical characteristics (c-peptide, HbA1c, lipid profile, insulin secretion, insulin sensitivity and insulin resistance.

Subjects and me

Sickle cell disease (SCD) comprises an inherited blood disorder that is life long and affects many people globally. In spite of the development in treatment, SCA is a considerable cause of mortality and morbidity. The present study tries to assess the role of leukocytes represented by β integrin(CD18) and platelets and their productivity in the pathogenicity of disease during  the steady state and crisis in comparison with the healthy as-control group, SCD patients (15) enrolled during crisis and steady state (follow up) showed a significant increase in leukocytes and platelets cells productivity during crisis when compared to the steady state and in the steady state when compared to the healthy control group . In this study, SCD patho

 Background: Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is the commonest complication of T2DM. Neuropathy is a descriptor for a spectrum of clinical and subclinical symptoms with varying anatomical distributions, clinical histories, and perhaps underlying pathogenetic mechanisms. The distal Symmetrical sensory polyneuropathy is chronic, symmetrical, length-dependent sensorimotor. Studies of the blink reflex have shown potential as a method of assessing brainstem activity.

Objective: The primary purpose of this research was to assess the function of the blink reflex in the early detection of cranial nerves and brain

Background: Breast cancer is the most frequent cancer in women worldwide and in Iraq. Proliferation rates of neoplastic process can be useful in predicting prognosis, aggressiveness of cancers and to guide treatment protocols in clinical practice.
Objectives: To evaluate the role of Ki67 as a proliferative marker through analysing the associations between Ki67 with the clinic-pathological parameters, hormone receptors and Her2/neu expression.
Patients and methods: Forty paraffin blocks belonging to patient with breast carcinoma and ten blocks with benign diseases were included in this retrospective cross-sectional study and used for the immunohistochemical assessment of hormone receptors, Her2/neu and Ki67.
Results: Mean age of

Background:recent data indicate the prevalence of cardiovascular disease in patientswith high cystatin-C level;it can be used as a good predictor for assessment of mortality in cardiovascular diseases regardless of the status of renal function.
Patients and methods: Onehundred twenty (120) patients with ischemic heart disease admitted to this study at Baghdad teaching hospital for the period from January 2011 to September2011,Those patients categorized into two groups (60) diabetic and (60) non diabetic in comparison to fifty healthy control.Fasting serum cystatin-C was measured in all patients and controls.
Results: The level of serum cystatin-C, in diabetic patients with ischemic heart disease was (2.05±0.55 μg/L). Its level in