Background: Direct measurement of intracellular magnesium using erythrocytes has been suggested as a sensitive indicator for the estimation of body magnesium store. Marked depletion in plasma and erythrocyte magnesium levels was particularly evident in diabetic patients with advanced retinopathy and poor diabetic control. While insulin has been shown to stimulate erythrocyte magnesium uptake, hyperglycemia per se suppressed intracellular magnesium in normal human red cells.
Aim of the study: To investigate the erythrocyte magnesium level in Iraqi type I and II diabetic patients, with specific emphasis on the effect of both, metabolic control and the type of antidiabetic treatments.
Methods: Sixty two diabetic patients (7 with type

The objective of this study is to evaluate the level of cytokines IL-1?, IL-10 and IL-17A in the serum of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), vascular dementia (VD) and down syndrome (DS). The results showed that Serum level of IL-1? was significantly increased in AD patients (3.79 ± 0.26 pg/ml) as compared with DS patients (2.78 ± 0.39 pg/ml) or controls (2.78 ± 0.22 pg/ml), while no significant difference was observed between AD and VD (3.25 ± 0.20 pg/ml) patients or between VD patients, DS patients and controls. The serum level of IL-10 was approximated in VD and DS patients and controls (3.39 ± 0.24, 2.77 ± 0.39 and 3.41 ± 0.35 pg/ml, respectively), but was significantly (P ? 0.05) increased in AD patients (5.73 ± 0.55 pg/ml

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Left ventricular hypertrophy is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular complications such as ischemic heart disease, heart failure, sudden death, atrial fibrillation, and stroke. A proper non-expensive tool is required for detection of this pathology. Different electrocardiographic (ECG) criteria were investigated; however, the results were conflicting regarding the accuracy of these criteria. OBJECTIVE: To assess the accuracy of three electrocardiographic criteria in diagnosis of left ventricular hypertrophy in adult patients with hypertension using echocardiography as a reference test. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This is a hospital-based cross sectional observational study which included 340 adult patients with a his

Background: Salivary biomarkers, a non-invasive alternative method to serum and tissue based biomarkers and it is consider as an effective modality for early diagnosis. Salivary microRNA 21, a nucleotide biomarker, was reported to increase in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma. This study was conducted to measure the fold change of microRNA 21 in stimulated saliva and to study its association with smoking and occurrence of oral squamous cell carcinoma. Materials and methods: A 20 patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma who used to be smokers was included in addition to 40 control subjects (20 smokers and 20 non- smokers health looking subjects). Stimulated saliva was collected under standardized condition. Salivary microRNA 21 wa

Despite not being digested, trace elements and/or heavy metals are important for the activity of enzymes, physiological processes, and homeostasis. If certain trace elements are present in excess, they can have harmful effects and pose major health hazards. Objective: The aims to examine the connection between serum zinc, copper levels, and the Cu/Zn ratio, and several anthropometric parameters, including an index of body mass and the waist-hip ratio. In our study, we used atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) to measure serum levels of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) in 60 individuals, 30 patients with kidney cancer and 30 healthy controls. We assessed serum uric acid, creatinine, and urea using the semi-auto analyzer BA-88A (Korea). The results

Breast cancer is the most diagnosed form of malignant tumour in Iraqi women. Tamoxifen and trastuzumab are highly effective adjuvant therapy for breast cancer. This study's objectives were to define the patient's belief in tamoxifen or trastuzumab when used as adjuvant therapy and to determine the variation in belief between the two medications in a sample of Iraqi breast cancer patients. The cross-section survey was conducted using the BMQ-Specific questionnaire. Ninety-seven participants (sixty-seven tamoxifen, thirty trastuzumab) participated in this study. The mean of specific-necessity scale for tamoxifen was (3.7) and for trastuzumab (4). The findings showed a high necessity for both medicines, and there were

The aim of the currnet study to examine the effect of subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) in diabetic patients on coagulation parameters. This retrospective case–control study involves 130 patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), divided into 65 T2DM with newly diagnosed SCH and 65 euthyroid (EUT) T2DM patients without SCH. Fibrinogen (FIB) was significantly higher in SCH (508.2 ± 63.0 mg/dL) than EUT (428.1 ± 44.8 mg/dL). In the SCH patients, FIB correlated with several parameters, such as age (β = 0.396), body mass index (β = 0.578), glycated hemoglobin (β = 0.281), and activated partial thromboplastin time (β = 0.276). In conclusion SCH in DM patients appears to increase the magnitude of coagulopathy.