Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the most common gastrointestinal malignancy and one of the top ten common cancers worldwide with approximately 2 million cases. There are multiple risk factors that could lead to CRC emergence; of which are genetic polymorphisms. Excision repair cross-complementing group 2 (ERCC2) gene encodes for ERCC2 enzyme which plays a crucial role in maintaining genomic integrity by removing DNA adducts. Several studies suggested that there could be a link between genetic polymorphisms of ERCC2 gene and the risk of CRC development. Hence the present study aims to validate the relationship between the following ERCC2 single nucleotide polymorphisms (rs13181, rs149943175, rs530662943, and rs1799790) and CRC susceptibility. A total of 121 participants were enrolled in this case control study; 72 CRC patients and 49 apparently healthy individuals. CRC patients aged 56.34 ±11.89 years and 41 (56.9%) were males while control group were 53.20 ± 17.33 years and 26 (53.1%) of them are males. Genotyping was performed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by Sanger sequencing then the association between genetic polymorphisms and CRC susceptibility was examined. GA genotype and A allele of rs149943175 were associated with lower risk of CRC development [OR 95% (CI)= 0.3 (0.1-0.88); P=0.02 and 0.4 (0.1-0.9); P=0.03 respectively]. However, GA genotype and A allele carriers of rs530662943 had significantly increased risk compared to GG genotype and G allele respectively [OR 95%(CI)= 5.17 (1.1-24.0); P=0.03 and 4.76 (1.0-21.6); P=0.04 respectively]. Additional stratified analyses showed that carriers of heterozygous genotype of rs149943175 who non-smokers, females or BMI figures less than 25 are less likely to develop CRC compared to wild genotype carriers. Taken together, genetic polymorphisms of ERCC2 modulate the susceptibility of CRC malignancy.
The adopted accelerated curing methods in the experimental work are 55ºC and 82ºC according to British standard methods. The concrete mix with the characteristics compressive strength of 35MPa is design according to the ACI 211.1, the mix proportion is (1:2.65:3.82) for cement, fine and coarse aggregate, respectively. The concrete reinforced with different volume fraction (0.25, 0.5 and 0.75)% of glass, carbon and polypropylene fibers. The experimental results showed that the accelerated curing method using 82ºC gives a compressive strength higher than 55ºC method for all concrete mixes. In addition, the fiber reinforced concrete with 0.75% gives the maximum compressive strength, flexural and splitting tensile strength for all types of
... Show MoreIntroduction: Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease, that may be transferred from mothers to infants during pregnancy if it is left untreated. Method: This study was conducted among 65 women who suffered from recurrent abortions in Iraq. Syphilis screening recombinant (IgM + IgG) level by ELISA, RADIM (Italy) and rapid plasma reagin (RPR) (positive and negative results) tests were used to analyse the data. Results: A non-significant association was observed with age (p=0.989), and the number of healthy births (p=0.643). Non-significant differences were observed in comparisons between smoker and non-smoker percentages in the study group. The rapid test for syphilis confirmation was applied using Rapid Plasma Reagin (RPR) tests.
... Show More- baumannii is an aerobic gram negative coccobacilli, it is considered multidrug resistance pathogen (MDR) and causes several infections that are difficult to treat. This study is aims to employ physical methods in sterilization and inactivation of A. baumannii, as an alternative way to reduce the using of drugs and antibiotics.
Cold Atmospheric Plasma was generated by one electrode at 20KV, 4 power supply and distance between electrode and sample was fixed on 1mm. A. baumannii (ATCC 19704 and HHR1) were exposed to Dielectric Barrier Discharge type of Cold Atmospheric Plasma (DBD-CAP) for several periods
Chemotherapy is one of the most efficient methods for treating cancer patients. Chemotherapy aims to eliminate cancer cells as thoroughly as possible. Delivering medications to patients’ bodies through various methods, either oral or intravenous is part of the chemotherapy process. Different cell-kill hypotheses take into account the interactions of the expansion of the tumor volume, external drugs, and the rate of their eradication. For the control of drug usage and tumor volume, a model based smooth super-twisting control (MBSSTC) is proposed in this paper. Firstly, three nonlinear cell-kill mathematical models are considered in this work, including the log-kill, Norton-Simon, and hypotheses subject to parametric uncertainties and exo
... Show MoreA total of (90) blood samples were collected from male patients infected with Toxoplasmosis who recovered from COVID- 19 and attended Kamal Alsamiraai Hospital from 15 January to 15 September 2021. We measured anti-Toxoplasma antibodies (IgG and IgM) detected by ELISA, whereas Anti-COVID-19 antibodies (IgG and IgM) were estimated using Elisa and Afilias. The semen characteristics were also studied among fertile, healthy individuals (control group) and sub-fertile patients. Results showed that the mean sperm count was high among the control group (40.5±1.3x 106/ml) compared with that of the sub-fertile patients (10.3±1.75 and 8.8±1.9 x 106/ml for oligozoospermia, and oligoasthenozoospermia respectively), and it was the highest (44.7±1.4
... Show MoreThe risk of breast cancer development is believed to be attributed to the alterations of a number of key biological components. Within this context, elevated levels of some chemokines that act as growth factors and can promote cancer development. The current study was designed to evaluate CXCL3 (a chemokine C-X-C Motif Ligand 3) and leptin (a peptide hormone synthesized by adipose tissue with cytokine activity) serum of Iraqi breast cancer patients in comparison to healthy controls. A total of 90 participants consisted of 60 patients diagnosed with breast cancer and 30 healthy women as control group were enrolled into this case-control study. Venous blood samples were collected from all participants to evaluate CXCL3 and leptin serum levels
... Show MoreBackground : Knee flexors tightness has been documented in apparently healthy adults and in those with musculoskeletal problems, but the influence of age on the tightness has not been studied in Iraq. This study was therefore designed to determine the influence of age on knee flexors tightness in apparently healthy subjects.Methods: Knee flexors tightness was measured using the active knee extension test (AKET) in 200 apparently healthy male and female subjects, aged 13 to 59 years. The subjects were recruited into 5 age groups using the purposive sampling technique.Knee flexors tightness was compared across the age groups using one-way analysis ofvariance (ANOVA). The independent t-test was used to compare knee flexors tightness on both
... Show MoreDespite the G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) being the largest family of signalling proteins at the surface of cells, their potential to be targeted in cancer therapy is still under-utilised. This review highlights the contribution of these receptors to the process of oncogenesis and points to some likely challenges that might be encountered in targeting them. GPCR-signalling pathways are often complex and can be tissue-specific. Cancer cells hijack these communication networks to their proliferative advantage. The role of selected GPCRs in the different hallmarks of cancer is examined to highlight the complexity of targeting these receptors for therapeutic benefit. Our
... Show MoreMethylotrophs bacteria are ubiquitous, and they have the ability to consume single carbon (C1) which makes them biological conversion machines. It is the first study to find facultative methylotrophic bacteria in contaminated soils in Iraq. Conventional PCR was employed to amplify MxaF that encodes methanol dehydrogenase enzyme. DNA templates were extracted from bacteria isolated from five contaminated sites in Basra. The gene specific PCR detected Methylorubrum extorquens as the most dominant species in these environments. The ability of M. extorquens to degrade aliphatic hydrocarbons compound was tested at the laboratory. Within 7 days, gas chromatographic (GC) studies of remaining utilize
... Show MoreCD63 is -one of the tetraspanin family proteins, which are regarded as: hallmark exosomal markers because it is absent from other types of vesicles. It is expressed in the cell membrane of cancer cells, and cytoplasm of stromal cells. Objective: To assess CD63 expression in gastric cancer (GC) patients, and detected if it could be used as a predictive marker. Furthermore, the current study aimed to find the correlation between CD63 expression and clinicopathological parameters as: gender, age, invasion depth, histopathological type, involvement of lymph nodes, grade and stages of GC (TNM). The current study is a retrospective study in the period time from (2018 to-2020); 50 randomly patients formalin-fixed paraffin embedded blocks (FFPE)
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