Background: Prolactin is a hormone, as well as a cytokine which is synthesized and secreted from the anterior pituitary gland and various extra pituitary sites including immune cells under control of a superdistal promoter that contains a single nucleotide polymorphism -1149 G/T. Rheumatoid Arthritis has been associated with increased serum prolactin levels.Objectives: To investigate the association of the extra pituitary -1149 G/T promoter polymorphism among Iraqi rheumatoid arthritis patients and prolactin levels.Methods: We tested 73 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 40 healthy individuals. The DNA samples were genotyped using the Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction fragment Length Polymorphism method and the levels of prolactin serum were measured using Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay.Results: The parameters rheumatoid factor, C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and serum prolactin concentrations of rheumatoid arthritis patients were significantly increased compared with healthy controls. The frequency of T allele and TT genotype was highest in control group compared with their frequency in rheumatoid arthritispatients, vice versa the G allele and GG genotype. There issignificant differences in prolactin levels in rheumatoid arthritis patients compared with healthy controls according to PRL-1149 G/T polymorphism. In rheumatoid arthritis patients, carriers of the GG, GT genotypes had higher prolactin levels in comparison to TT genotype but did not show any significant difference.Conclusions: There is a possible association between prolactin levels and rheumatoid arthritis. We found correlation between rheumatoid arthritis and prolactin -1149 G/T polymorphism. The prolactin -1149 G allele is a genetic marker for increased rheumatoid arthritis susceptibility in Iraqi population. In addition, influence of prolactin -1149 G/T polymorphism on prolactin levels
Background: Diabetes mellitus is a well
known metabolic and vascular illness associated
with high incidence of bacterial urinary tract
infections especially in diabetic complications
including both micro and macro-vascular types.
Objective: To study the incidence of bacterial
urinary tract infections in type 2 diabetic
patients, the type of micro-organism responsible
in relation to age, sex of patients, duration of the
disease & related micro & macrovascular
diabetic complications.
Methods: A prospective study of the diabetic
patients including 40 males with mean age of
54(±9) years and 50 females, mean age of 51(±7)
years and duration of the and sex matched
controls (27 males and 33
The objective of this study is to evaluate the level of cytokines IL-1?, IL-10 and IL-17A in the serum of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), vascular dementia (VD) and down syndrome (DS). The results showed that Serum level of IL-1? was significantly increased in AD patients (3.79 ± 0.26 pg/ml) as compared with DS patients (2.78 ± 0.39 pg/ml) or controls (2.78 ± 0.22 pg/ml), while no significant difference was observed between AD and VD (3.25 ± 0.20 pg/ml) patients or between VD patients, DS patients and controls. The serum level of IL-10 was approximated in VD and DS patients and controls (3.39 ± 0.24, 2.77 ± 0.39 and 3.41 ± 0.35 pg/ml, respectively), but was significantly (P ? 0.05) increased in AD patients (5.73 ± 0.55 pg/ml
... Show MoreABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Left ventricular hypertrophy is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular complications such as ischemic heart disease, heart failure, sudden death, atrial fibrillation, and stroke. A proper non-expensive tool is required for detection of this pathology. Different electrocardiographic (ECG) criteria were investigated; however, the results were conflicting regarding the accuracy of these criteria. OBJECTIVE: To assess the accuracy of three electrocardiographic criteria in diagnosis of left ventricular hypertrophy in adult patients with hypertension using echocardiography as a reference test. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This is a hospital-based cross sectional observational study which included 340 adult patients with a his
... Show MoreDuodenal and gastric ulcers remain the two most common perforations of the gastrointestinal tract and might be reduced by the early detection of predictive factors, which has limitedly researched. This study conducted to examine the predictive factors for developing of gastroduodenal ulcer among patients attending Gastrointestinal Teaching Hospitals in Baghdad, Iraq.
A cross-sectional survey with a total of 100 patients with gastric and duodenal ulcers was recruited using a nonprobability (purposive) sampling techniqu
Background: Periodontal diseases are inflammatory disorders caused by the accumulation of oral biofilm and the host response to this accumulation which characterized by exaggerated leukocytes and neutrophils attraction to the sites of inflammation by chemoattractants which are a very important part of the pathogenesis of periodontal diseases. This study aimed to determine and compare the clinical periodontal parameters and the leukocyte cell types in the peripheral blood between patients with gingivitis and periodontitis with different severities compared to healthy controls. Materials and methods: This study included 150 male subjects aged between 35-50 years. They were divided into three groups: gingivitis group (n=30), periodontitis p
... Show MoreBackground: Salivary biomarkers, a non-invasive alternative method to serum and tissue based biomarkers and it is consider as an effective modality for early diagnosis. Salivary microRNA 21, a nucleotide biomarker, was reported to increase in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma. This study was conducted to measure the fold change of microRNA 21 in stimulated saliva and to study its association with smoking and occurrence of oral squamous cell carcinoma. Materials and methods: A 20 patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma who used to be smokers was included in addition to 40 control subjects (20 smokers and 20 non- smokers health looking subjects). Stimulated saliva was collected under standardized condition. Salivary microRNA 21 wa
... Show MoreBackground: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is caused of 85% of all lung cancers. Among the most important factors for lung tumor growth and proliferation are the tyrosine kinase receptors that coded by the epidermal growth factor recep-tor (EGFR) gene. Activation of EGFR ultimately leads to developing of lung cancer. The present study was undertaken with an objective to detect EGFR mutations in bronchial wash from Iraqi patients with NSCLC before treatment. Methods: DNA was extracted from bronchial wash samples collected from 50 patients with NSCLC by using a Qiamp DNA Mini Kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany). Then, EGFR mutations were determined by using real-time RCR combined with two technologies, Amplification Refractory Mutation System (
... Show MoreDespite not being digested, trace elements and/or heavy metals are important for the activity of enzymes, physiological processes, and homeostasis. If certain trace elements are present in excess, they can have harmful effects and pose major health hazards. Objective: The aims to examine the connection between serum zinc, copper levels, and the Cu/Zn ratio, and several anthropometric parameters, including an index of body mass and the waist-hip ratio. In our study, we used atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) to measure serum levels of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) in 60 individuals, 30 patients with kidney cancer and 30 healthy controls. We assessed serum uric acid, creatinine, and urea using the semi-auto analyzer BA-88A (Korea). The results
... Show MoreBackground: coronavirus 19 is a beta-coronavirus, enveloped and roughly spherical with approximately 60 to 140 nm in diameter with positive-sense single-stranded RNA genome.
Objectives: Measurement of interleukin 6 (IL6) level in a group of patients with confirmed Covid19 infection and its correlation with many hematological and biochemical parameters , mainly lymphocyte , neutrophil count and their ratio , platelet count , serum ferritin , C reactive protein as well as D-dimer level
Subjects and Methods: This study was conducted on 60 PCR positive patients variably affected by COVID-19 , cases collected sequentially from June till November 20
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