Covid-19 is a respiratory disease similar to pneumonia that results from an infection with SARS-CoV-2, a recently identified virus that became a global pandemic in 2020. The severe cases of the disease show a cytokine storm, which is excessive, uncontrolled production of pro inflammatory cytokines. MicroRNA-155 is an epigenetic microRNA that has the ability to control pro-inflammatory responses in many diseases. We aim to determine the relationship between microRNA-155 expression and some cytokines (interleukin-6, interleukin-8, and interleukin-1β) in severe covid-19 cases. A case-control study of 235 samples was collected from 120 patients with severe covid-19 and 115 of mild covid-19 cases and healthy individuals of different sexes and ages. After RNA extraction and conversion to cDNA, RT-PCR was performed on both studied groups. The levels of studied interleukins were determined for 50 severe covid-19 patients and 40 control individuals (mild and healthy). A substantial elevation in the expression of microRNA-155 was seen in severe COVID-19 patients compared to its expression in the control group consisting of mild cases and healthy individuals. Interleukin-6, interleukin-8, and interleukin-1β also show elevated levels in severe covid-19 serum than control individuals. This investigation revealed a strong and statistically significant correlation between the expression of microRNA-155 and interleukin-6, as well as a substantial correlation between the expression of microRNA-155 and interleukin-1β. MicroRNA-155 might have a role in inducing some pro-inflammatory interleukins that leads to cytokine storm.
Aim and Objectives: The objective of this study was to illustrate the link between periodontitis (PO) and endothelial dysfunction in hypertensive patients. Materials and Methods: This cross‑sectional study involved 53 hypertensive patients with or without PO compared with 28 healthy controls. On the basis of the study protocol, the participants were divided into three groups: Group (1): 24 patients with hypertension only, Group (2): 29 patients with hypertension and PO, and Group (3): 28 healthy controls. Lipid profile, endothelin‑1 (ET‑1), and high‑sensitivity C‑reactive protein (hs‑CRP) were measured. Blood pressure and body mass index (BMI) were evaluated. Diagnostic criteria of severe PO periodontal indices including plaque
... Show MoreBackground: Many etiological factors have been implicated in the pathogenesis of Asthma like; viruses, bacteria and Chlamydia pneumoniae. This study focuses on the role of Chlamydia
pneumoniae in asthma pathogenesis.
Patients and Methods: The detection of Anti-Chlamydia pneumoniae antibodies IgA, IgM and IgG in patients by ELISA, for 35 patients, 18 asthmatic patients, 12 patients with chest infection with no history of asthma, and 5 apparently healthy as control subjects.
Results: The results showed that 80% and 70% of the patients were negative for anti- Chlamydia pneumonia antibodies IgA and IgM respectively, while significantly (p<0.05) high number (73%) of patients were positive for IgG, of which
Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ACVD) is an inflammatory disease of the coronary arteries associated with atheroma formation, which can cause disability and often death. Periodontitis is ranked as the sixth most prevalent disease affecting humans affecting 740 million people worldwide. In the last few decades, researchers have focused on the effect of periodontal disease (PD) on cardiovascular disease. The aim of this review was to investigate the association between these two diseases. PD is a potential risk factor that may initiate the development, maturation, and instability of atheroma in the arteries. Two mechanisms were proposed to explain such association, either periodontal pathogens directly invade bloodstream or in
... Show MorePvcABCD are cluster of genes found in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The research was designed to examine the relationship between the pvc genes expression and cupB gene, which plays a crucial role in the development of biofilm, and rhlR, which regulates the expression of biofilm-related genes, and to investigate whether the pvc genes form one or two operons. The aims were achieved by employing qRT-PCR technique to measure the gene expression of genes of interest. It was found that out of 25 clinical isolates, 21 isolates were qualified as P.aeruginosa. Amongst, 18(85.7%) were evaluated as biofilm producers, 10 (47.6%), 5 (23.8%), and 3 (14.2%) were evaluated as strong, moderate and weak producers respectively, while, 3 (14.2%) were considered
... Show MoreBackground: On March 2020, the first case of coronavirus disease-19 was registered in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and subsequently the first mortality case. The predicting factors for patients' outcomes are essential to triage patients with COVID-19. This may provide low-cost facilities that help in the fight against the existing global pandemic.
Objectives: This study aimed to predict hospitalization and death outcomes of COVID-19 patients using the simplest facilities.
Method: The electronic medical records of 280 COVID-19 patients between March 2020 and May 2021 were retrieved from a multi-centre of healthcare facilities across Kingdom of Saudi Arabian cites. All de
... Show MoreAutomated clinical decision support system (CDSS) acts as new paradigm in medical services today. CDSSs are utilized to increment specialists (doctors) in their perplexing decision-making. Along these lines, a reasonable decision support system is built up dependent on doctors' knowledge and data mining derivation framework so as to help with the interest the board in the medical care gracefully to control the Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) virus pandemic and, generally, to determine the class of infection and to provide a suitable protocol treatment depending on the symptoms of patient. Firstly, it needs to determine the three early symptoms of COVID-19 pandemic criteria (fever, tiredness, dry cough and breat
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BACKGROUND: A novel coronavirus officially recognized as SARS-CoV2, first emerged in Wuhan, China, has allowed COVID-19 to rapidly spread. The WHO declared the global pandemic of COVID-19 a public health emergency of international concern. Early evaluation of the mental health of healthcare workers (HCWs) and consideration of effective therapeutic strategies is important. OBJECTIVE: To assess the mental status (depression and anxiety) among HCWs and identify the association between depression, anxiety levels and (certain demographic factors and other factors). PATIENTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on data collected |
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has an immense effect not only on the social and economic lives of people but also on the surgical lives of surgeons, residents, nursing staff, and patients as well as ground level staff. Amidst this COVID pandemic, emergency surgeries were being done but at a decreased rate, whereas elective cases depended on the will of hospitals, surgeons, and patients. Study aims to promulgate a "Neo–Surgical Check Box" by amalgamating the WHO surgical checklist and the results obtained from the questionnaires.
Subjects and Methods: After receiving ethical clearance from the Institute Ethical Committee, an online questionnaire with 50 questions divided into
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