Background: Oxidative stress is a deleterious process that can be an important mediator of damage to cell structures and consequently various disease states. Exposure to free radicals from a variety of sources has led organisms to produce a series of defense mechanisms. The antioxidant ceruloplasmin is a copper-containing ferroxidase that can oxidize ferrous iron (Fe2+) to its nontoxic ferric (Fe3+) form. Ferrous iron (Fe2+) is extremely damaging because of its ability to generate toxic free radicals. Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory oral mucosal disease of unknown etiology. Previous studies reported that reactive oxygen species may be involved in the pathogenesis of lichen planus. The aim of this study was to estimate the role of oxidative stress in pathogenesis of OLP through the study of serum and saliva ceruloplasmin as a marker of antioxidant status. Methods: Forty eight patients with histologically confirmed OLP by oral pathologist were included in this study. The sample group was split up in to two groups according to the clinical presentation of the lesions, 21 patients with reticular formation and 27 patients with erosive form together with 32 healthy looking volunteers that were age-matched with the patients. Serum and saliva ceruloplasmin activity was determined by oxidation of P-Phenylenediamine to give a blue - violet color that measured spectrophotometricaly at 525 NM. Results: Statistically, there was a substantial increase in serum and saliva ceruloplasmin levels of OLP patients group as compared to controls (p<0.01) and there was no statistically significant differences in serum and saliva ceruloplasmin when compared between reticular and erosive forms (p>0.05). The study showed that there was no statistically significant correlation between serum and saliva ceruloplasmin levels in OLP patients group (r=-0.029, p>0.05). Conclusion: Oxidative status play a role in the pathogenesis of oral lichen planus represented by increased serum and saliva ceruloplasmin levels.
Objectives: Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) is WNT/b-catenin pathway antagonist which plays a detrimental role in the development of diabetic retinopathy (DR). This research aimed to assess serum DKK-1 levels in diabetic patients who have and have not developed DR and, compare them with the control subjects finding out whether we can use it as an indicator for DR early diagnosis and to find out which one of the widely used two groups of antidiabetic treatments had the greater effect on this biomarker and hence on the progression of DR. Methods: The study participants were divided into two subgroups: First, 70 patients (36 male, 34 female) with type 2 diabetes mellitus, among them 35 patients diagnosed with DR and 35 with no evidence of DR, and s
... Show MoreUnstable angina pectoris often leads to acute myocardial infarction. Since uric acid is thought to be risk factor for cardiovascular disease and considered a major antioxidant in human blood .The level of uric acid and lipid peroxidation in the sera of patients with unstable angina and myocardial infarction were measured and compared to the healthy individuals. Twenty-nine patients with unstable angina and twenty-nine patients with myocardial infarction were studied and compared to twenty-five healthy individuals. Uric acid was measured by using Human Kit. Malondialdelyde (MDA) a lipid peroxidation marker, was measured by thiobarbituric acid method .Significant elevation of uric acid and MDA were observed in the sera of pati
... Show MoreIntroduction: Cutaneous leishmaniasis is considered a parasitic contagion resulting from the flagellated parasite belonging to the genus of Leishmania. Also, cutaneous leishmaniasis is a zoonotic ailment transmitted through the bloodsucking sand-flies bite (belonging to the Phlebotomus genus). The disease's reservoirs included wild or semi-domesticated animals, in general rodents and dogs. Tissue inhibitor metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) is one of the extracellular matrix proteins that have a role in vessel wall degeneration and aneurysm development. In addition, it belongs to the zinc-dependent endopeptidases family that are involved in the degradation of connective tissues proteins which are included in vascular integrity maintenance. The Ge
... Show MoreThe study aimed to assess the level of ANG‑2 in MM patients at diagnosis and in remission state and elaborate on its correlation with interleukin‑6 (IL‑6) and beta‑2 microglobulin (B2M) levels. Sixty MM patients; 20 newly diagnosed (ND), and 40 patients in remission were included. Twenty healthy individuals were included as a control group. Plasma levels of ANG‑2, B2M, and IL‑6 were tested by enzyme‑lin ked immunosorbent assay. There are significant statistical differences between ND patients and those in remission in hemoglobin, neutrophil count, blood urea, serum creatinine, glomerular filtration rate, B2M, IL6, and ANG‑2 (P = 0.001, 0.033, 0.005, 0.001, 0.001, 0.001, 0.004, and 0.001, respectively). ANG‑2 showed signifi
... Show MoreInterleukin-33 [IL-33] is a specific ligand for the ST2 receptor, and a member of the
IL-1 family. It is a dual-function protein that acts both as an extracellular alarmin cytokine,
and an as an intracellular nuclear factor participates in maintaining barrier function by
regulating gene expression of IL-33 modulating tumor growth and anti-tumor immunity in
cancer patients. The present study aimed to investigate the role of IL-33 serum level and gene
polymorphism in Iraqi women with breast cancer. Materials and methods: Blood samples
were collected from 66 Iraqi patient women diagnosed with breast cancer, which were divided
into two groups: pre-treatment [PT] and under treatment with chemotherapy [UTC] patients in
Peripheral neuropathy represents one of the common diabetic complications in patients with diabetes mellitus type 2 (DMT2). Peripheral neuropathy affects the feet, legs, hands, and arms. It was found that one-third to one-half of diabetics have peripheral neuropathy. The current study aimed to evaluate the level of visfatin in diabetic patient groups with or without peripheral neuropathy in comparison with healthy subjects to knowledge whether visfatin can be applied as a predictor factor for this type of disease complication. The study included 120 males and females ranging in age from 40 to 97 years old. (40 patients with type 2 diabetes, 40 patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy, and 40 healthy people served as the control group
... Show MoreObjective: To find out the relationship between the bio-social aspect with cholelithiasis patients and
demographic characteristics in Baghdad city.
Methodology: A purposive (non-probability) sample of (100) patients, from (20-70) years old, who were
selected from patients who were admitted to hospital at preoperative stage, from Gastroenterology and
Hepatology Hospital, Baghdad Teaching Hospital, Al-Yarmook Teaching Hospital, Al-Karama Teaching
Hospital, Teaching Hospital. A descriptive study was carried out from 25th of June 2004 to the end of October
2004.
An assessment form was constructed for the purpose of the study. Test-retest reliability was employed through
computation of Pearson correlation coefficient.
Renal function tests are commonly used in clinical practice to look for renal disease, the most common includes the serum urea, uric acid and creatinine. Heart failure patients have a higher incidence of renal function test abnormalities than individuals who do not have heart failure disease. Fifty subjects of adults (male) were divided in to two groups, 25 subjects (healthy) as control (group1) and 25 subjects with heart failure (group 2). Our results indicate that serum uric acid, urea, and creatinine values were significantly elevated (P≤0.05) in patients group (2) compared with healthy group (1). The results also showed, the effect of age categories on uric acid blood urea nitrogen and creatinine values (P≤0.05) and there were no si
... Show MoreRheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflammatory condition causing joint pain and stiffness, with often debilitating and life-limiting consequences. Recently, a new B-cell secreted cytokine, IL-39, was identified in mice. The most up-to-date research indicates that although IL-39 is expressed in murine models of lupus and has a role in mediating the inflammatory response in this context, there is no solid, replicated evidence of the existence of IL-39 in humans. This study aimed to clarify the existence and role of IL-39 in the human body and to elucidate whether it plays a role in rheumatoid arthritis. Accordingly, serum samples were collected from 66 patients with rheumatoid arthritis who were under therapy and from 66 healthy c
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