Background Methotrexate (MTX) is a classical folic acid antagonist widely used in the treatment of malignant and non-malignant disorders. However, its clinical application is often restricted by concomitant adverse effects, including renal damage. Numerous studies have highlighted the role of oxidative stress and inflammation in mediating MTX-related nephrotoxicity. Therefore, the current study aimed to explore the possible renoprotective action of Citronellol (CT), a natural compound with prominent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, against nephrotoxicity induced by MTX. Methods To fulfill our objective, 24 adult male Wistar rats were randomly allocated into four groups: control, MTX, 100 mg/kg CT plus MTX and 200 mg/kg CT plus MTX. At the end of the study, the experimental rats were anesthetized, blood samples were collected for biochemical assays, and the kidneys were surgically removed for biochemical and gene expression analyses, after which all rats were sacrificed by exsanguination. Results Compared to the MTX-treated group, our results revealed that pre-supplementation with 100 or 200 mg/kg CT remarkably ameliorated renal damage biomarkers, including serum urea, serum creatinine, and kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1). In addition, pre-treatment with 100 or 200 mg/kg CT enhanced the activity of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx), diminished renal malondialdehyde (MDA) contents, and attenuated inflammation by suppressing renal nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling and diminishing tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) gene expression. Moreover, pre-treatment with 200 mg/kg CT markedly reduced interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) gene expression. Conclusion Our findings demonstrate, for the first time, that CT can serve as a new promising agent for mitigating nephrotoxicity induced by MTX through its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
This study aimed to make an inventory of leguminous plants for the purpose of identifying the plants that were collected over long periods and stored in the herbarium of Iraq Natural History Museum. It was found that the herbarium contains a large and varied number of plants from different parts of Iraq and in different and varied environments. It was collected and arranged according to a specific system in the herbarium to remain an important source for all graduate students and researchers to take advantage of these plants. Also, the flowering and fruiting periods of these plants in Iraq were recorded for different regions. Most of these plants begin to flower in the spring and thrive in fields and farms.
Background: Patients with chronic kidney
disease have different grades of sensorineural
deafness .
Objective: To study the incidence of
sensorineural hearing loss and possible contributing
factors in patients with chronic kidney disease.
Methods: A total of 100 patients with chronic
kidney disease were studied. All of them were
males. 92 of them were on regular haemodialysis
programme. Only 8 patients were on conservative
management the age range of the study patients was
18-40 year patients were divided into three groups
according to age. All patients were assessed
clinically and were evaluated by audiometry , and
analysis was made on bone conduction threshold
.The mean follow up period was 2
Urine proteomics have been an area of interest and recently in Kala-azar as an alternative sample type for serum or plasma. Because of simplicity, noninvasiveness of collection and simpler matrix. Many studies had detected an increased protein excretion in the urine of patients with active Kala-azar due to renal involvement particularly by an immunological related mechanism(s). This study have demonstrated the presence of three different protein profiles in Iraqi children (Patients: including 60 children aged 4-60 months) with defined Kala-azar using the conventional SDS-PAGE on urine samples. Urine protein profile in Kala-azar patients revealed three groups of banding patterns: group-1(33.4)% of the patients show the pattern of 5
... Show MoreRenal function tests are commonly used in clinical practice to look for renal disease, the most common includes the serum urea, uric acid and creatinine. Heart failure patients have a higher incidence of renal function test abnormalities than individuals who do not have heart failure disease. Fifty subjects of adults (male) were divided in to two groups, 25 subjects (healthy) as control (group1) and 25 subjects with heart failure (group 2). Our results indicate that serum uric acid, urea, and creatinine values were significantly elevated (P≤0.05) in patients group (2) compared with healthy group (1). The results also showed, the effect of age categories on uric acid blood urea nitrogen and creatinine values (P≤0.05) and there were no si
... Show MoreA reversed-phase HPLC method with fluorescence detection for the determination of the aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2 in 42 animal feeds, comprising corn (16), soya bean meal (8), mixed meal (13), sunflower, wheat, canola, palm kernel, copra meals (1 each) was carried out. The samples were first extracted using acetonitrile:water (9:1), and was further cleaned-up using a multifunctional column. Optimum conditions for the extraction and chromatographic separation were investigated. By adopting an isocratic chromatographic system using a mobile phase comprising acetonitrile:methanol:water (8:27:65, v/v/v), the separation of the four aflatoxins was possible within 30 min. Recoveries for aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2 were 98 ± 0.7%, 95 ± 1.0%, 94
... Show MoreThe construction industry in Iraq suffers from many problems, perhaps the most important of which is the delay in time and the increase in costs. Therefore, it was necessary to try to adopt a new methodology that would help in overcoming these problems. It was suggested to combine building information modeling with the agile management approach because this technique and methodology is modern and helps in reducing time and cost and improving quality. This paper aims to know the status of using Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Agile Project management (APM) in Iraq and to shed light on the merging of this integration, explaining the benefits, difficulties, and workflow practices, finding the most influencing factors on the tim
... Show MoreCo-crystals are new solid forms of drugs that could resolve more than one problem associated with drugs formulations like solubility, stability, bioavailability, mechanical and tableting properties. A preliminary theoretical study for estimating the possible bonding between the co-crystal components (paracetamol and naproxen) was performed using the ChemOffice program. The results revealed a high possibility for bonding between paracetamol and naproxen and indicated the ability of molecular mechanics study to predict the co-crystal design.
In this work, four different methods were used for the preparation of three different ratios 1:1, 2:1, and 1:2 of paracetamol:naproxen co-crystals. The four
... Show MoreBackground: Listeria monocytogenes, a member of the genus Listeria, is widely distributed in agricultural environments, such as soil, manure and water. The genus of Listeria bacteria is about 15-17 species. It is a pathogenic bacterium that can cause a rare but dangerous infection called listeriosis.
Objectives: Studying the rate of salads contaminated with Listeria bacteria. and Listeria monocytogenes according to International, Arabic and Iraqi specifications and finding the correlation between commitments of restaurants to standard health conditions with contamination with these bacteria
Methods: The study included
... Show MoreBackground: psychiatric and behavioral side effects are
common in patients with epilepsy and it may represent an
intrinsic feature of the disease itself or a side effect of the
antiepileptic use. Our aim in the present study is to assess
the psychiatric side effects of Sodium Valproate and
Carbamazipine .as these drugs are the most commonly
used antiepileptic drugs in Iraq.
Methods: 80 patients with primary generalized epilepsy
on Carbamazipine and 50 patients on Sodium Valproate
were enrolled in the present study; all the patients were
assessed for any psychological disturbances using semistructural interview based on the tenth edition of the
international classification of the diseases(ICD 10)
adopte