Background: Crohn's disease (CD) is an immunological disorder associated with chronic inflammatory process of several unspecific regions of gastrointestinal tract but frequently detected in the terminal Ilium and proximal colon or both. This disease frequently presented with various oral manifestations as a consequence of inflammatory process of the disease, nutritional deficiency or medications side effects. Several therapeutic approaches have been developed for CD management that are targeting the inflammatory process and directed at controlling the host immune response. Immunosuppressants such as Azathioprine and anti-TNF α agents as well as the combination of them have been widely used as an effective therapeutic modality with a better chance of achieving clinical remission and decrease the risk of future complications. Subjects, Materials, and Methods: Seventy-five subjects were incorporated in this study; fifty subjects presented with moderate to severe CD that were subdivided into two subgroups treated with different therapeutic modalities( Azathioprine monotherapy and Combination of anti TNF-α biological agent (Infliximab) plus Azathioprine), while other twenty-five were age and gender matched healthy control subjects. Body mass index (BMI) of all participants was determined by weight (kg)\ high (m2). Oral cavity of each patient was examined for the presence of oral manifestations. Blood and saliva samples were gained from each subject enrolled in this study and salivary flow rate (ml\min) was measured for those participants, then these samples were centrifuged and the supernatants frizzed for subsequent oxidative stress and antioxidants biomarkers assessment. Results: The means of BMI and salivary flow rate were significantly higher in combination treated group than Azathioprine treated group. Fungal infection was the main oral findings that observed among Crohn's patients on combination therapy compared with those on Azathioprine monotherapy. Assessment of oxidative stress and antioxidant activity revealed that the means of serum and saliva Malondialdehyde (MDA) were highly significantly higher in Azathioprine treated group than combination treated group, while Vitamin E (VE) level showed significant reduction in Azathioprine Crohn's group as compared to combination treated group. Significant negative linear correlation was found between MDA level in serum and saliva with duration of treatment, while highly significant positive correlation was detected between VE levels and duration of treatment. Conclusions: Oxidative stress was increased with reduced antioxidant level in both groups of Crohn's patients. Treatment with Combination therapy approved to be effective in controlling oxidative tissue damage and enhanced antioxidants system in Crohn's patients better than Azathioprine monotherapy. Fungal infection was the most predominant oral manifestations among Crohn's patients on combination therapy as a result of concomitant immunosuppressive effect that accounted for reduced immune response to opportunistic infections.
Medicinal plants contain bioactive substances that are highly bioavailable in extracts or pure molecules, making them promising for therapeutic applications and precursors for chemo-pharmaceutical semi-synthesis. Harpagophytum procumbens (Devil’s Claw) is widely recognized as one of the most potent therapeutic herbs. This study aimed to extract seeds from H. procumbens using two types of solvents and to assess both qualitative and quantitative aspects of the extracts. The two extracts were evaluated for antibacterial and anti-biofilm activities using agar well diffusion assays against four bacterial isolates and two yeast isolates. Qualitative analysis identified the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, and terpen
... Show MoreVitamin D receptor (VDR) is a nuclear transcription factor that controls gene expression. Its impaired expression was found to be related to different diseases. VDR also acts as a regulator of different pathways including differentiation, inflammation, calcium and phosphate absorption, etc. but there is no sufficient knowledge about the regulation of the gene itself. Therefore, a better understanding of the genetic and epigenetic factors regulating the VDR may facilitate the improvement of strategies for the prevention and treatment of diseases associated with dysregulation of VDR. In the present investigation, a set of databases and methods were used to identify putative functional elements in the VDR locus. Histone modifications, CpG I
... Show MoreAge, hypertension, and diabetes can cause significant alterations in arterial structure and function, including changes in lumen diameter (LD), intimal-medial thickness (IMT), flow velocities, and arterial compliance. These are also considered risk markers of atherosclerosis and cerebrovascular disease. A difference between right and left carotid artery blood flow and IMT has been reported by some researchers, and a difference in the incidence of nonlacunar stroke has been reported between the right and left brain hemispheres. The aim of this study was to determine whether there are differences between the right and left common carotid arteries and internal carotid arteries in patient
The field of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is the process of converting an image of text into a machine-readable text format. The classification of Arabic manuscripts in general is part of this field. In recent years, the processing of Arabian image databases by deep learning architectures has experienced a remarkable development. However, this remains insufficient to satisfy the enormous wealth of Arabic manuscripts. In this research, a deep learning architecture is used to address the issue of classifying Arabic letters written by hand. The method based on a convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture as a self-extractor and classifier. Considering the nature of the dataset images (binary images), the contours of the alphabet
... Show MoreThe research dealt with the study of choice between a range of different words between the repetitive texts in the verses of the Koran and explain the reason behind this choice, and how the context has the greatest impact in this choice, and that each word in the Koran was placed in the most appropriate place, which can not be replaced by equivalent words, whatever The degree of similarity between them in the indication of the other because it remains at the end that each of those vocabulary synonyms are indicative, the first of them especially that makes the possibility of replacing them with the equivalent vocabulary impossible, and the second general significance and this connotation makes them share with their peers In one aspect of
... Show MoreABSTRACT Background: Neuropilin 1(NRP1) is considered a novel non - tyrosine kinase co- receptor for the vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF). First discovered on migrating neurons. NRP1is suggested to be up-regulated in cells of different types of cancer and implicated with advanced disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the variation in expression of NRP1 in oral, laryngeal and skin squamous cell carcinoma. Materials and methods: Tissue sections from 120 formalin fixed- paraffin embedded blocks histopathologically diagnosed as oral, laryngeal and skin SCC (40 blocks for each),immunohistohemically stained in immunoperoxidase method with monoclonal antibodies to NRP1, the localization of expression was examined and the res
... Show MoreThe aim of the present study is to formulate floating effervescent microsponge tablet of the narrow absorption window drug, Baclofen (BFN) for controlling drug release and thereby decrease the side effect of the drug. The microsponges of BFN were prepared by non-aqueous emulsion solvent diffusion method (oil in oil emulsion method). The effects of drug: polymer ratio, stirring time and type of Eudragit polymer on the physical characteristics of microsponges were investigated and characterized for production yield, loading efficiency, particle size, surface morphology, and in vitro drug release from microsponges. The selected microsponge formula was incorporated into the floating effervescent gastro-retentive tablet. The prepared fl
... Show MoreBackground: Oral Lichen Planus is a chronic inflammatory mucosal disease, presenting in various clinical forms .Both antigen-specific and non-specific mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of OLP. Apoptosis or programmed-cell death is a physiological process essential for the normal development and maintenance of homeostasis in many organisms. Fas is a cell-surface glycoprotein, 40-kDa, that belongs to the nerve growth factor / tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor family. Fas is expressed in several tissues including blood, where its expression is upregulated on activated T and B lymphocytes and natural killer cells. Fas ligand is a type II transmembrane protein that belongs to the tumor necrosis factor family. The proto-oncogene c-Myc is
... Show MoreBackground: Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a well-recognized cause of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.Objectives: To evaluate the prognostic implications of the restrictive left ventricular filling pattern (RFP) in dilated cardiomyopathy.Methods: Patients with DCM admitted to Ibn AL-Bitar Hospital for Cardiac Surgery, Baghdad-Iraq, from May 2006 to August 2008, underwent a full clinical evaluation and Doppler echocardiography study. Patients were classified into three groups: Group I had persistent restrictive filling pattern; Group II had reversible restrictive filling pattern; and Group III had nonrestrictive filling pattern. Results: The current study was conducted on a total number of 80 patients with DCM, fifty (62.5 %) were
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