Endothelin-I (ET-I) is one of the potent vasoconstrictors secreted from endothelial cells when needed. Many studies revealed the elevation of serum ET-I with human diabetes and microangiopathies. Since insulin resistance is a case of mixed diabetic and pre-diabetic cases, many risk factors beyond obesity and inflammation are proposed. The current study aims to demonstrate the association between serum ET-I and asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) and insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Sera of 73 subjects were enrolled currently (control= 35 subjects, and 38 with T2DM for more than 7 years), aged (40-60) years old, with distinct body mass index (BMI) ≤ 25 for control volunteers and (BMI) ≥ 25 for obesity and diabetes

Background: Neutrophils destroy pathogens via phagocytosis. Neutrophils are effective innate and acquired immunity phagocytes. Low-density neutrophils are distinct neutrophil phenotypes linked to several systemic and infectious diseases. To our knowledge, low-density neutrophil phagocytosis in periodontitis has not been examined. Opsonized and non-opsonized fluorescent beads mixed with low-density neutrophils were gated and analyzed by flow cytometry to count cells that consumed at least one bead.

Aims of the Study: To estimate the potential impact of antibody (Ab)-labeled and non-labeled phagocytosis capacity of low-d

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is considered a global disease as it affects over 150 million people worldwide, a number that is supposed to be doubled by 2025. High glucose levels, in vitro, appear to raise the extent of LDL oxidation, and glycated LDL is more prone to oxidative modification.Objective: To investigate the relationship between serum level of vitamin E and lipid profile in patients with type II DM.Methods: This study involved 28 patients suffering from type II DM diagnosed 1-4 years ago and with age ranged from 17 -60 years old, with different residence around Basra ; In addition to 56 apparently healthy persons matched in age and sex to the patients as a control group. The medical histories were taken and Gene

Free radicals and oxidative damage caused by them have being suggested to be involved in the pathogenesis of migraine. These may result from distorted equilibrium of pro-oxidant/anti-oxidant system that continuously generates and detoxifies oxidants during normal aerobic metabolism. Escape of such system from equilibrium leads to damage of cellular elements with the depletion of cellular stores of anti-oxidants material such as glutathione and vitamin E. Therefore, free radical scavengers (vitamin E or melatonin) seems to be of potential benefit as prophylactic anti-migraine therapy by neutralizing free radicals overproduction and possibly preventing formation of highly toxic intermediates (such as nitric oxide). In addition of being pow

Focal adhesion kinase (FAK), ephrin receptor type A4 (EphA4), and adiponectin (ADPN) are important indicators in inflammation, tumor growth, migration, and angiogenesis in some cancers. The predictive impact of their concentrations in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients to be identified remains. The research sought to explore the effect of FAK, EphA4, and ADPN as prognostic biomarkers, and their influence on patient survival, and to look for any potential correlation between their levels with hematological parameters in AML patients.

  Anthropogenic activities cause soil pollution with different serious pollutants, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs) compounds. This study assessed the contamination of PAHs in soil samples collected from 30 sites divided into eight groups (residential areas, oil areas, agricultural areas, roads, petrol stations, power plants, public parks and electrical generators) in Basrah city-Iraq during 2019-2020. The soil characteristics including (moisture, pH, EC and TOC) were measured. Results showed the following ranges (soil moisture (0.03-0.18%),pH (6.90-8.16), EC (2.48-104.80) mS/cm and TOC (9.90-20.50%)). Gas Chromatography (GC) was used to measure PAHs in extracted soil samples. The total PAH range (499.96 - 5864.86) ng/g dr

Background: Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is an autoimmune vesiculobullous mucocutaneous disease with life-threatening consequences. Rituximab (RTX) has recently emerged as an effective treatment for PV. Objectives: This study aims to determine changes in neutrophil and platelet counts for PV patients treated with RTX or corticosteroids combined with Imuran (azathioprine). Materials and Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Dermatology at Baghdad Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq. Thirty PV patients received two types of treatment: 15 patients were administered RTX and 15 patients took corticosteroids with Imuran (azathioprine). Neutrophil and platelet counts were detected at the hospital laboratory. Results

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

This study focuses on diagnosis of Candida species causing Vulvovaginal Candidiasis using phenotype and genotype analyzing methods, and frequencies of candida species also using Vulvovaginal Candidiasis patients. 130 samples (100 from patients and 30 from non infected women) were collected and cultured on biological media. Identifying the yeasts, initially some phenotypic experiments were carried out such as germ tube, from motion of pseudohyphae and clamydospores in CMA+TW80 medium, API20 candida and CHROMagar Candida. Genomic DNA of all species were extracted and analyzed with PCR and subsequent Polymerase Chain Reaction - Restriction Fragments Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) methods. Frequency of C. albicans, C. krusei, C. tropicalis , C.