Background: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a chronic autoimmune illness, which is consider by three main features: Sclerotic changes in the skin and internal organs, Vasculopathy of small blood vessels, Particular autoantibodies (1). The most important autoantibodies appeared significantly in SSc patients are anti-topoisomerase I autoantibody (Scl-70), anti-centromere autoantibody (ACA), and anti-RNA polymerase III autoantibody (RNAP3) (2). Anti-centromere antibodies (ACA) are infrequent in rheumatic conditions and in healthy persons but occur commonly in limited systemic sclerosis (CREST syndrome), and rarely appeared in the diffuse form of systemic sclerosis (3). Anti-Ro/SSA and antiLa/SSB, antibodies directed against Ro/La ribonucleoprotein complexes, can serve as a diagnostic hallmark of autoimmune disease specially Sjogren’s syndrome (4). Materials and methods: This study was carried out during the period from the middle of November 2015 until the end of November 2016 in Baghdad city. The sample of this study was divided into two groups : Forty systemic sclerosis patients: Those patients were treated at Rheumatology department in Baghdad teaching hospital in Baghdad city as well as Forty healthy control subjects, age matched with no signs and symptoms of any systemic diseases. Results: The serum anti-SSA in SSc patient was significant increased as well as the salivary anti-SSA in SSc patient was highly significantly increased than in the control subjects by using t-test. The present study found that there no statically difference in salivary ACA, anti-SSB and serum anti-SSB while serum ACA was significantly increased. Conclusions: autoantibodies play a role in pathogenesis of SSc patients represented by increased serum (ACA and anti-SSA) that it considered reliable indicator for SSc patients while unpredicted marker in saliva except anti-SSA. Anti-La/SSB is unreliable marker in both serum and saliva SSc patients. The presence of Anti-Ro/SSA antibodies in serum and saliva of SSc patient has been predictive marker for SSc overlapped Sjogren’s syndrome.
The study was conducted to evaluate the antifungal activity of the aqueous and
alcoholic extract and the essential oil of E. incrassata leaves toward some biological
characteristics of the water mold S. ferax. Chemical analysis of the plant leaves using HPLC
showed the content of several active compounds included 1,8-Cineole, Terpineal, Citronellal,
Phellendrene and Citiric acid.
Treatment of the fungus growing on solid media containing different concentrations of
the extracts showed significant gradual decrease in radial growth with the increasing
concentration, and the effect varied with the different extracts.
Treatment of the fungus grown in distilled water on sesame seeds with different
concentratio
The typical test for diagnosis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 is a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique, but the chest CT scan might play a complementary role at the first detection of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia. Objectives: To determine the sensitivity of CT scan on patients with COVID-19 in Al-Najaf, Iraq, and to compare the accuracy of CT scan with that of RT-PCR technique. Material and Method: This is a prospective study. The patients suspicious of having COVID-19 infection and respiratory symptoms were registered. All patients were diagnosed by RT-PCR and chest CT. Diagnostic performance of CT was intended using RT-PCR as the reference sta
... Show MoreIt included the introduction to the research and its importance, as the knee joint is one of the important joints in the human body that are susceptible to injury, and among these injuries is the roughness of the knee that occurs as a result of weakness and imbalance in the work of the quadriceps muscle, so its treatment is through rehabilitation exercises to treat weakness and gain flexibility and strength.Hence the importance of the research by developing rehabilitation exercises with different resistances in the water medium and restoring flexibility and muscular strength for patients with knee roughness for ages from 30-40 years, and the experimental method was used to solve the research problem, and the research sample included (6) of
... Show MoreBackground Parkinson’s disease (PD) is currently the fastest-growing neurological disorder in the world. Patients with PD face numerous challenges in managing their chronic condition, particularly in countries with scarce healthcare infrastructure. Objective This qualitative study aimed to delve into neurologists’ perspectives on challenges and gaps in the Iraqi healthcare system that influence the management of PD, as well as strategies to mitigate these obstacles. Method Semi-structured interviews were conducted with neurologists from five different Iraqi provinces, working in both hospitals and private neurology clinics, between November 2024 and January 2025. A thematic analysis approach was employed to identify the main challenge
... Show MoreBackground: Cardiomyopathy (CM) is a cardiac muscle disorder that can lead to heart failure (HF). It has several phenotypes, including dilated, hypertrophic, and restricted. Pro-inflammatory cytokines play a crucial part in the development and advancement of CM. Objective: This study aimed to measure the concentration of certain cytokines [Interleukin- 1β (IL-1β), Interleukin-6 (IL-6), and Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF-α)] in the serum of Iraqi patients with CM. Materials and Methods: Sixty CM patients and 30 healthy individuals with age ranged from 40 to 70 years old were enrolled in this study through their presence at Iraqi Center for Heart Diseases, Ghazy Al-Hariri Hospital for Surgical Specialties in the Medical City in Baghdad. The st
... Show MoreKE Sharquie, AA Noaimi, MS Younis, BS Al-Sultani, Journal of Cosmetics, Dermatological Sciences and Applications, 2014 - Cited by 5
Background: Periodontal diseases are inflammatory diseases affecting the supporting tissues of the teeth. One of the leading environmental factors that are closely related not only to the risk but also to the prognosis of periodontitis is smoking. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of smoking on periodontal health status and to measure the levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9 in smokers and nonsmokers chronic periodontitis patients, also it aimed to test the correlation between the levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9 and the clinical periodontal parameters. Materials and Methods: Five milliliters samples of un-stimulated whole saliva and full-mouth clinical periodontal recordings (plaque index, gingival index, bleeding on probing,
... Show MoreBackground: Deep vein thrombosis is a multi causal disease and its one of most common venous disorder, but only one quarter of the patients who have signs and symptoms of a clot in the vein actually have thrombosis and need treatment .The disease can be difficult to diagnose. Venous ultrasound in combination with clinical finding is accurate for venous thromboembolism, its costly because a large number of patients with suspicious signs and symptoms. Venography still the gold standard for venous thromboembolism but it is invasive. The D-dimer increasingly is being seen as valuable tool rolling out venous thromboembolism and sparing low risk patients for further workup.Objectives: this study has designed the role of D-dimer to confirm diag
... Show MoreEcosystems provide humans with services that include benefits from food, fresh water, climate regulation, and socio-economic assets. The Mesopotamian marshlands are among the largest wetlands in the Middle East and they provide various benefits. However, ecosystem services of the Marshlands are consistently undervalued in national economic analysis and decision making. This study focusses on the Central Marshes, the first National Park in Iraq, and is the first attempt at valuing a series of ecosystem services from a valuable natural ecosystem in Iraq. We adopted the Toolkit for Ecosystem Services Site-Based Assessment (TESSA) for the determination of biophysical and economic values of services at the site level. Data on key ecosystem se
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