Background: Cluster of differentiation 14 (CD14) is a serum/cell surface glycoprotein; and it is a pattern recognition receptor. CD14 expressed on the surface of various cells, or it found soluble in saliva and other body fluids. It has been proposed that soluble CD14 (sCD14) may play a protective role by controlling Gram negative bacterial infections through its capacity to bind lipopolysaccharide. This study was conducted to assess the level of soluble CD14 in saliva of patients with different periodontal diseases and healthy subjects and determine its correlation with clinical periodontal parameters. Materials & Methods: A total of 80 subjects, age ranged (25-50) years old, divided into three main groups, group ? consisted of 45 chronic periodontitis patients, group ?? consisted of 20 gingivitis patients, lastly group ??? comprised 15 apparently- healthy volunteers. Unstimulated whole saliva samples were collected to determine levels of soluble CD14 in saliva by enzyme-linked immune–sorbent assay (ELISA). Clinical periodontal parameters were recorded at four sites per tooth including plaque index, gingival index, bleeding on probing, probing pocket depth and clinical attachment level. Results: A highly significant difference (P<0.01) was found for salivary sCD14 levels among the three groups, also it was greater in chronic periodontitis group than those detected for gingivitis and healthy controls with a highly significant difference (P<0.01). Furthermore, Spearman’s correlation analysis showed statistically highly significant strong correlations (P < 0.05) between salivary sCD14 levels and each of (probing pocket depth, clinical attachment level). And non-significant correlation between salivary sCD14 level with plaque, gingival & bleeding on probing indices. Conclusion: The findings of the present study reemphasize the importance of whole saliva as sampling method in terms of immunological purposes in periodontal disease and suggest that the elevated sCD14 concentration may be one of the host-response components associated with the clinical manifestations of periodontal disease.
Developed and underdevelopment countries, on equal terms, face the problem of budget deficiency. Budget deficiency means that the public expenditure surpasses the public revenues. This, on the international level, is one of the most serious economic problems with many direct effects on the national economy, and depends, basically, on its finance chosen method. Looking for a solution to this problem, for this reason and many other ones, has been highlighted in spite of the many attempts to reduce the role of the governmental expenditure. Budget deficiency can not be attributed to a single unique cause since it is complex phenomenons the causes of which are related to many factors contribute to its occurrence, some of which refer t
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The current study aimed to identify the quality of health services provided by the Omani health sector through the comparison between public and private hospitals in Dhofar Governorate, Oman. A questionnaire has been developed to collect data from 360 patients who received health services in one public Hospital (Sultan Qaboos) and three private Hospitals (Badr Al-Sama, Lifeline, and Al-Hakeeim). The data were analyzed using independent samples T-Test and One Way ANOVA. The results of the study showed that the quality levels of health services offered in private hospitals were better than public hospitals. The study results also reveled that there are significant differences between public hospitals and private hos
... Show MoreBackground Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) combination therapies from various mechanisms of action and families have been revolutionized the management landscape of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV). Ombitasvir, paritaprevir with ritonavir (OBV/PTV/r) ± ribavirin (RBV) is approved to treat HCV genotype 4 (GT4) infection. Here, our objective was to delineate the efficacy and safety of OBV/PTV/r plus RBV in treating of Egyptian naïve patients infected with HCV GT4.
Methods a cohort of 100 Egyptian patients infected with HCV GT4 was allocated and administered orally OBV/PTV/r with RBV. The primary endpoint of our study was a sustained virological response (HCV RNA < 12 IU/mL) 12 weeks after the c
... Show MoreBackground: Complete denture wearers show lower levels of bite force than dentate subjects. This has a significant influence on their chewing efficiency. In this study an attempt was made to investigate the effect of the impression technique on the maximum bite force in complete denture wearers. Materials and methods: The patients selected for this research were 12 edentulous patients. Three different techniques for registering the final impression were made; the mucostatic, mucofunctional, and the selective pressure impression technique. Two sets of upper and lower denture bases and one set of upper and lower dentures were constructed for each subject. Intraoral and extraoral instruments and devices, as well as a computer program were used
... Show MoreThis paper reports a comprehensive study on the behavior of concavely curved soffit reinforced concrete (RC) beams strengthened in flexure with carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites under static loading. The main objective of this paper is to explore the effect of surface concavity on the bond performance of externally bonded wet layup CFRP sheets and laminates. An experimental program consisting of flexural strengthening of 24 RC beams with concavely curved soffits was carried out. All specimens were simply supported RC beams tested under three-point bending. Of the 24 beams, 6 beams were flat soffit RC beams, and the remainder were fabricated with concavely curved soffits with a degree of curvature that is ranging from 5 mm/m
... Show MoreTwo groups of chronic hepatitis B and C virus patients were divided into Pre-treated patients (25 CHB patients with positive HBs Ag for more than 6 months and 40 CHC patients), and post-treated patients [12 CHB patients (4, 6, and 2 were treated with lamivudine, IFN-? and combination of LMV + IFN-? respectively), and 27 patients for CHC (3, 13 and 11 patients were treated with Ribavirin, IFN-? and combination therapy (RBV+ IFN-?) respectively].These patients were followed up for 6 months. By using ELISA technique, levels of IL-6, IL-10, IFN-? and TNF-? were measured in vivo and in vitro (supernatant of PBMCs stimulated with PHA) and compared with healthy control. The mean level of IL-6, IL-10 and TNF-? in CHB patients showed significant dif
... Show MoreRheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease associated with decreased antioxidant state .This study aim to investigate the status of oxidant/antioxidant in a sample of Iraqi patients with RA and the role of peroxynitrite and its natural scavenger uric acid in them .This case-controlled study was conducted at Baghdad teaching hospital /Baghdad from December 2010-May 2011 . Twenty-five patients with mean age 39 years and 25 apparently healthy subject as controls with mean age 29 years were included in the study .Investigations include estimation of serum levels of nitric oxide (NO) ,peroxynitrite (PN) , malondialdehyde (MDA) , and uric acid (UA) .Serum PN levels were significantly elevated in RA patients a
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