Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor that regulates T cell function. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of AhR ligands, 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), and 6-Formylindolo[3,2-b]carbazole (FICZ), on gut-associated microbiota and T cell responses during delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction induced by methylated bovine serum albumin (mBSA) in a mouse model. Mice with DTH showed significant changes in gut microbiota including an increased abundance of Bacteroidetes and decreased Firmicutes at the phylum level. Also, there was a decrease in Clostridium cluster XIV and IV, which promo

The pretreatment process can be considered one of the important processes in wastewater treatment, especially coagulation process to decrease the strength of many pollutants. This paper focused on using powdered date seeds as natural coagulant in addition to chemical coagulants (alum and ferric chloride) to find the optimum dosage of each coagulant that makes efficient removal of turbidity and chemical oxygen demand (COD) from domestic wastewater as a pretreatment process, then finding the optimum combined dosages of date seeds with alum, date seeds with ferric chloride that make efficient removal for both pollutants. Concerning turbidity, the optimum dosage for date seeds, alum and ferric chloride were 40 mg/l (79%), 70

Background: preeclampsia is characterized by endothelial dysfunction with vasoconstriction due to cell adhesion molecules or mediators released by defective placentation. Soluble platelet selectin, one of the cell adhesion molecules, is elevated in many inflammatory conditions including preeclampsia.
Objective: To investigate if soluble platelet-selectin levels can be used as a marker for adverse outcomes in pregnancy complicated with sever preeclampsia
Patients and methods:This study involved 115 pregnant women in their third trimester of pregnancy; divided into Group A: involves 25 pregnant women with preeclampsia complicated by intrauterine growth restriction.Group B: involves 35 pregnant women with preeclampsia without intraute

The (CTLA-4) encodes of the T cell receptor involved in the control of T cell
proliferation and mediates T cell apoptosis. The contribution of CTLA-4 gene
variants to type 1 diabetes has been analyzed in several ethnic groups. In this study,
the association of CTLA-4 +49 A/G polymorphism with type 1 diabetes was
investigated in Egyptian patients. Sixty type 1 diabetic patients (25 males and 35
females) and 60 healthy individuals (33 males and 27 females) subjects formed the
studied populations. CTLA-4 A/G polymorphism at position 49 in exon 1 was
identified using allele specific methods. Patient numbers with A/G, A/A and G/G
genotypes were 45 (75.0 %), 6 (10.0 %) and 9 (15.0%) while in healthy controls,
these w

Background: Extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs), including cefotaximases (CTX-M), mediate resistance to extended spectrum cephalosporins and significantly compromise the treatment tools for Shigellosis.

Objective: To determine the ESBLs production by Shigella spp. and its role in the resistance to third generation cephalosporins and to determine    the occurrence of   plasmid- borne   blaCTX genes in   ESBLS Shigella isolates by Multiplex PCR.

Methods: Susceptibility of 59 clinical Shigella isolates was tested by disk diffusion method to six antimicrobial agents. Presence of ESBL

Twenty bacterial isolates were identified as Staphylococcus aureus collected from wounds and catheters related infections. A capsulated S. aureus isolate was chosen after performing serum soft agar test, for this study Neutropenic mice were challenged with capsulated S. aureus ,and the effect of G-CSF with or without moxifloxacin was studied. The results indicated that the addition of G-CSF to moxifloxacin therapy have a synergistic effect in the killing of the bacteria, while when each G-CSF and moxifloxacin were used seperately have a similar effect on bacterial killing. It was found that the moxifloxacin has the same activity as G_CSF but is less costly than the latter one.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, inflammatory, immune mediated disease of the central nervous system, mostly affecting young adults with mean age of 30 years, twice as high in women compared to men. The etiology of MS is not fully elucidated. MS symptoms are directly related to demyelination and axonal loss, along with other psychological symptoms, can result in functional limitations, disability and reduced quality of life (QoL).  The QoL assessments in patients with a chronic disease may contribute to improving treatment and could even be of prognostic value. The goals  of this study were  to  compare the QoL of  Iraqi patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS),using three different diseas

 The gold fishes, Carasusius auratus infected with the fungus, Saprolegnia sp. were treated with different concentrations of Aqueous extracts of coriander , Coriandrun sativum seeds and Henna, Lawsonia inermis leaves by applying the dip method in a water bath for five minutes. The total killing of these fungi was achieved by using 30 % of the C. sativum seeds from Aqueous extract and 40 % of the L. inermis leaves from Aqueous extract.   Changes in behaviors of treated fishes, were increased with the increasing concentration for plant extract of C. sativum seeds. It was observed excitation of fishes , crushing with aquaria sides, jumping outside of aquaria, as well as increasing the number opercula movements . While in case

Background: Neural tube defects (NTDs) are said to be inherited in a multifactorial fashion, i.e. genetic-environmental interaction. Maternal nutritional deficiencies had long been reported to cause NTDs, especially folate deficiency during early pregnancy. More attention had been paid to the exact mechanism by which this deficiency state causes these defects in the developing embryo. The most significant of all researches was that connecting reduced folate and increased homocysteine level in maternal serum on one hand and the risk of developing a NTD baby on the other hand.
Objectives : to determine the significance of homocysteine level in Iraqi mothers who gave birth to babies with NTDs as compare

Objectives: With the advent of ongoing novel modalities toward the treatment of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)/NEU - positive malignancies, the serious side effects of chemoradiotherapy have been minimized. Hence, this study was conducted to identify the patterns of immunohistochemical expression of the promising therapeutic target (HER2/NEU) among Iraqi patients with medulloblastoma in an attempt to provide basic histological information’s that would help in future clinical researches.Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, 42 formalin - fixed paraffin - embedded tissue blocks represent cases of surgically removed medulloblastomas were retrieved from the archived materials in a specialized surgical ho