Chitinase-3-like 1 protein (YKL-40) is a glycoprotein primarily produced in the arthritic joint and plays a crucial role in inflammatory processes. The aim of the study is to establish the role of YKL-40 as a biomarker for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) compared to proinflammatory biomarkers and disease activity. The study included 58 patients and 18 control. Diseases activity score (DAS-28) and clinical disease activity index (CDAI) were measured. Serum level of YKL-40, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1B (IL-1β), erythrocyte sedimentation (ESR), rheumatoid factor (RF), C-reactive protein (CRP), and anti-citrullinated protein antibody (ACPA) were assessed. The results showed that the median serum YKL-40 level which was 5.42 

Medulloblastomas and ependymomas are the most common malignant brain tumors in children. However genetic abnormalities associated with their development and prognosis remain unclear. Recently two gene fusions, KIAA1549–BRAF and SRGAP3–RAF1 have been detected in a number of brain tumours. We report here our development and validation of RT-RQPCR assays to detect various isoforms of these two fusion genes in formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissues of medulloblastoma and ependymoma. We examined these fusion genes in 44 paediatric brain tumours, 33 medulloblastomas and 11 ependymomas. We detected both fusion transcripts in 8/33, 5/33 SRGAP3 ex10/RAF1 ex10, and 3/33 KIAA1549 ex16/BRAF ex9, meduloblastomas but none in the 11 ep

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) referring to a syndrome that is recognized as a life-course disease and has both metabolic and reproductive signs; main pathophysiological cause includes insulin resistance, hyperandrogenism, and oxidative stress state. The study aimed to assess the impact of combining Myoinositol and Metformin, the main insulin-sensitizing drugs, on improving clinical, metabolic, and hormonal parameters in females with PCOS. A clinical trial that was prospective, randomized, and comparative on 54 patients (aged 18-40 y) are divided into three groups: group1 patients allocated to receive Myo-inositol(4g), group2 patients assigned to receive Metformin(1g) and group3 patients assigned to receive Myo-inositol(4g) + Metformin

BACKGROUND: Febrile neutropenia occurs in more than 80% of patients with hematological malignances specially after chemotherapy cycles and an infectious source is identified in approximately 20–30%. Various bacterial, viral, and fungal pathogen contribute to the development of neutropenic fever and without prompt antibiotic therapy mortality rate can be as high as 70%. AIM: The objective of the study was to document the current sites of infection in patients with febrile neutropenia in hematological ward in Baghdad Teaching Hospital, the microorganisms and antibiotic susceptibly in culture positive cases and mortality rate in 1 week and 4 weeks after episode of fever. PATIENTS AND METHODS: One hundred cases of febrile neutrop

Crabs belong to the crustacean family (Decapods crustacean), and their shells contain natural ingredients from which the bioactive compounds are derived. It has been used as folklore medicine in cancer treatment. We investigate the possible anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects for crab shells and whole crabs. Thirty-six rats (150–200 gm) from both sexes were used, divided into six groups, the anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant activity measured using cotton pellet induce granuloma model. Detection of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF α), Interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), superoxide (SOD), and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels using ELISA Kits. The data analysis by one-way ANOVA followed by the Tukey test. Values are significant at (p < 0.05).

Obesity is a risk factor for a number of chronic conditions. Obesity is clinically defined using the body mass index (BMI) as weight in kg divided by (height)² in m² correlated with obesity. Currently, genetic markers of obesity are being studied. This study focused on the association between the angiotensin II receptor AGTR1 gene (A1166C) and fat mass and obesity-associated protein also known as alpha-ketoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase (FTO) (rs9939609) in obese children and adolescents patients in Rostov region, Russia.  Five-hundreds of Russian nationality child and adolescent were recruited for the obesity-control studies. The relationship between the A1166C polymorphism of the AGTR1 gene in

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 ribonucleoprot

Leishmania parasites reproduce wherever there are cells of the mononuclear phagocyte system, almost in macrophages. These are most copious in the liver and spleen;therefore, infection leads to an expansion of both of them. This study determined the burden of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) infection on liver and spleen. A total of 20 mice were infected peritoneally with 2x107promastigotes of Leishmania donovani / ml and other 12 mice left without infection as a healthy control. The weight of whole body, liver and spleen were measured and the histological development using hematoxylin and eosin stains were determined after 15, 30, 45-and 60-days post infection. The results represent that the mean weights of liver and spleen were increased in inf

This study aimed to compare lysyl oxidase-1 level in diabetic patients with and without renal dysfunction, that LOX-1 may be an indicator for the early stage of diabetic nephropathy (DN). In addition to finding it is a relationship with kidney functions in Iraqi diabetic patients with and without renal dysfunction. Blood was obtained from 25 healthy individuals as a control group (G1), 25 diabetic patients with renal dysfunction, and 25 diabetic patients without renal dysfunction. Age range 40-60 years for all subjects. BMI (25-27) Kg/m2 . The serum was used for the analysis of LOX-1, FBG, urea, creatinine and uric acid. Whole blood is used for the determination of HbA1C. Results of FBG and HbA1C revealed a significant increase in G2 and G

Breast tumors patients generally have more oxidative stress than normal females. This was clear from a highly significant elevation (P<0.05) in malondialdehyde level in RBCs, serum and tissue of all patients groups with breast cancer as compared with control group. In this study we had found that free radicals in malignant breast tumors were higher than benign tumors, therefore the MDA might be used as a marker for prognosis of the disease.