AbstractOBJECTIVES: To evaluate the long-term remission efficacy and safety of isotretinoin in the treatment of Behcet's disease (BD). PATIENTS and METHODS: This single-blind, controlled therapeutic study was conducted in the Department of Dermatology and Venereology at Baghdad Teaching Hospital from February 2011 to January 2012. Thirty patients with BD were included in this work. Each patient received isotretinoin 20 mg orally once daily for 3 months. They were assessed at week 2 and then monthly depending on the Clinical Manifestation Index (CMI) and to record any side effects. At week 12, isotretinoin was stopped and patients were given placebo therapy in a form of glucose capsules for another 3 months. RESULTS: Thirty patients were treated, 14 (46.6%) males and 16 (53.3%) females, with a male to female ratio of 1:1. Their ages ranged from 16 to 64 years (mean +/- standard deviation [SD], 38.4 +/- 10.9 years). During the first 3 months of therapy, the pathergy test, oral pathergy test, and C-reactive protein were significantly minimized. The CMI before isotretinoin therapy ranged between 2 and 8 (mean +/- SD, 4.933 +/- 1.91). After therapy, within the first 14 days, the mean CMI started to decline to a lower level, and it continued to decline significantly until week 12. It then started to increase through week 4 of placebo therapy, but remained statistically significant until the second month of placebo therapy. Isotretinoin therapy also had a statistically significant effect in reducing oral ulcers and skin manifestations. CONCLUSION: Isotretinoin is an effective therapeutic and prophylactic drug in the management of BD. J Drugs Dermatol. 2013;12(4):e68-e73.
Introduction: 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 MoreA series of coumarin derivatives linked to amino acid ester side chains were synthesized and evaluated of their antibacterial and antifungal activity. The coumarin derivatives was alkylated by the ethyl bromoacetate and then using potassium carbonate to get alkylated hymecromone. Conventional solution method for amide bond formation was used as a coupling method between the carboxy-protected amino acids with acetic acid side chain of coumarin derivatives. The DCC/ HOBt coupling reagents were used for peptide bond formation. The proposed analogues were successfully synthesized and their structural formulas were consistent with the proposed struct
... Show MoreThe present study is to investigate the possibility of using wastes in the form of scrap iron (ZVI) and/ or aluminum ZVAI for the detention and immobilization of the chromium ions in simulated wastewater. Different batch equilibrium parameters such as contact time (0-250) min, sorbent dose (2-8 g ZVI/100 mL and 0.2-1 g ZVAI/100 mL), initial pH (3-6), initial pollutant concentration of 50 mg/L, and speed of agitation (0-250) rpm were investigated. Maximum contaminant removal efficiency corresponding to (96 %) at 250 min contact time, 1g ZVAI/ 6g ZVI sorbent mass ratio, pH 5.5, pollutant concentration of 50 mg/L initially, and 250 rpm agitation speed were obtained.
The best isotherm model for the batch single Cr(III) uptake by ZVI
... Show MoreThe modified Hummers method was applied to prepare graphene oxide (GO) from the graphite powder. Tin oxide nanoparticles with different loading (10-20 wt.%) supported on reduced graphene oxide were synthesized to evaluate the oxidative desulfurization efficiency. The catalyst was synthesized by the incipient wetness impregnation (IWI) technique. Different analysis methods like FT-IR, XRD, FESEM, AFM, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) were utilized to characterize graphene oxide and catalysts. The XRD analysis showed that the average crystal size of graphene oxide was 6.05 nm. In addition, the FESEM results showed high metal oxide dispersions on the rGO. The EDX analysis shows the weight ratio of Sn is close to its theoretical weight.
... Show MoreThis paper was aimed to evaluate the polyurethane (PU) and polyurethane/polyvinyl chloride (90 wt. % / 10 wt. %) as organic coating of carbon steel substrate against marine environment (3.5 wt.% NaCl aqueous solution) as a severe corrosion environment . The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and fitting impedance data by ZsimpWin 3.22 software were used to estimate the physical barrier of the samples for different exposure times. Different equivalent electrical circuits were proposed for the physical barrier at different immersion times to get appropriate fitting .Both PU and PU/PVC coatings showed excellent corrosion protection ability for steel .The PU/PVC coating showed better protection and stability than PU coating against
... Show MoreBiological experiment was performed (with Complete Random Design (CRD)) by using sterile and non-sterile soil, to investigate Rhizobium leguminosarum isolate ability to enhance fava beans (Vicia faba) plant. The experiment includes: control group (C), fertilizer treatment as group 1 (F), and Rhizobium leguminosarum inoculum treatments as group 2 (R). Fava beans seeds were planted in pots filled with 5 Kg soil (sterile and non-sterile), and after seven weeks of germination, length and weight of plant vegetative part and plant root were measured. The ability of Rhizobium leguminosarum isolate to produce hydrolytic enzymes (chitinase, pectinase, protease, and lipase) was studied. The results show that the
... Show MoreIn the present study, five derivatives have been designed to be synthesized as possible mutual prodrugs for 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) and non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to selectively deliver the drugs into the cancer cells. The synthesis of the target compounds were accomplished following multistep reaction procedures, the chemical reaction followed up and the purity of the products were checked by TLC. The structure of the final compounds and their intermediates were confirmed by their melting points, infrared spectroscopy and elemental microanalysis, the hydrolysis of compound III was studied using HPLC technique. According to the results mentioned above, compounds (I−V) can be good candidates as possible mutual prod
... Show MoreExtract from cell culture of medicinal plant like Nigella sativa have been assessed for its cytotoxic properties. Thymol is likely responsible for the theraputic effects of Nigella sativa leaf callus extract. In this short study the inhibitory effect of Nigella sativa leaf callus extract (Thymol) has been studied on Human Lorgnx Epidrmoid Carcinoma (Hep-2) cell line during different exposure period of time (24, 48 and 72 hrs.) using different concentration of the extract (1000, 500, 400, 300, 200 and 100 µg/ml). The optical density of the Hep-2 cells has been readed on 492 nm wave length. Thymol –induced cytotoxicity was (500 µg/ml) which inhibit cell growing compared to the control and this
... Show MorePolycrystalline Cadmium Oxide (CdO) thin films were prepared
using pulsed laser deposition onto glass substrates at room
temperature with different thicknesses of (300, 350 and 400)nm,
these films were irradiated with cesium-137(Cs-137) radiation. The
thickness and irradiation effects on structural and optical properties
were studied. It is observed by XRD results that films are
polycrystalline before and after irradiation, with cubic structure and
show preferential growth along (111) and (200) directions. The
crystallite sizes increases with increasing of thickness, and decreases
with gamma radiation, which are found to be within the range
(23.84-4.52) nm and (41.44-4.974)nm before and after irradiation for
Freshwater mussels are a guild of stationary, suspended-feeding species; they perform significant ecological functions like nitrogen cycling, bioturbation that gives oxygen and habitat that other creatures need to survive, and increasing water clearance by filtration. Knowledge of the freshwater mussel Unio tigridis Bourguignat, 1852, distribution, and molecular study in Iraq was inadequate. In the current study, this species of freshwater Mussels belonging to the family Unionidae was collected from different locations in the Greater Zab River, from April 2022 to November 2022. The average water temperature of the site was arranged between (17.8 to 36.1 C°). All previous studies in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq were based on morphologic
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