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.
Little is known about hesitancy to receive the COVID‐19 vaccines. The objectives of this study were (1) to assess the perceptions of healthcare workers (HCWs) and the general population regarding the COVID‐19 vaccines, (2) to evaluate factors influencing the acceptance of vaccination using the health belief model (HBM), and (3) to qualitatively explore the suggested intervention strategies to promote the vaccination.
This was a cross‐sectional study based on electronic survey data that was collected in Iraq during December first‐19th, 2020. The electronic surve
In order to study the correlation between CMV infection and increase in blood pressure among Iraqi patients, 201 blood samples were collected including; 88 male, 113 female hypertensive patients and 40 control samples. Patients sera were grouped into patients who are under medication (T), and patients who do not take any treat-ment for hypertension(NT). Samples were tested for CMV-IgM/IgG by ELISA, ren-in enzyme and interleukin-6(IL-6) levels were determined by ELISA too. The opti-cal density readings difference for CMV-IgG were significant between (T) and (NT) groups as well as when each group compared to control, level of renin enzyme showed significant difference between patients group(T and NT) and between each group compared to the
... Show MoreBackground: Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine and metabolic disease that affects approximately 15% of women of childbearing age worldwide. It is one of the causes of infertility and is characterized by hirsutism, acne, persistent or interrupted anovulation, and hyperandrogenemia. Neuregulin-4 (NRG-4) is an adipokine hormone from the protein neuregulin family. Its level is greater in PCOS than in control women, and Neuregulin-4 is linked to body fat percentage and liver fat, as well as insulin resistance (IR).
Objectives: To estimate the serum NRG-4 levels in women diagnosed with (PCOS), to compare it with, non-PCOS healthy control and to explore the effect of hyperandrogenism on the obtained r
... 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 MoreBackground:
Background: - Genetic Factors have a major role in the development of bladder cancer.
Objectives: - This study was carried out to shed a light on the possible association of HLA class II antigens and BC patients and to correlate this finding with the family
history.
Patients and Methodes :- Lymphocytotxicity assay had been used to assess HLAtyping of 65 BC patients and 50 healthy controls.
Results:- comparison between BC patients and healthy controls showed several antigens deviations in their frequencies. HLA-DR1, HLA-DQ1 and HLA-DQ3 antigens
were observed with increased frequencies in patients group with significant differences (P=0.000, 0.000 and 0.017 respectively). Moreover there was decrease
Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) has a worldwide distribution and common infections. The presence of HCMV genome and antigens has been detected in many kinds of human cancers. The proto-oncogene Her2/neu is overexpressed in 25% to 30% of human breast cancers and frequently associated with tumor aggressiveness and worse prognosis. Examination was applied to detect different HCMV antigens and to demonstrate their correlation with Her2/neu overexpression in breast cancer. The present study includes samples from 70 women of 60 breast cancer patients and 10 normal breast tissues. Formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tissue blocks were obtained from each woman according to ethical approval. Human cytomegalovirus early antigen expression was detected in 5
... Show MoreThe nature and intensity of the association of myasthenia gravis (MG) with distinct human leukocyte antigen (HLA) haplotypes differ between ethnic populations, so this study determined the association of HLA class II antigens with myasthenia gravis (MG) in Iraq.The study included Iraqi patients diagnosed with MG and two control groups the first of 54 insulin dependent diabetes mellitus patients and the second of 237 subjects as a normal control group. The test used was microlymphocytotoxicity test.The work was done in the Teaching Laboratories/Medical City/Baghdad.Results: positive associations were observed (etiological risk factors) as follows: 1. HLA-DR locus showed one positively associated allele when compared to healthy control and th
... Show MoreBackground:
Background: genetic factors were considered to play a possible role the development of autoimmune hepatitis.
Patients and methods: polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific primers (PCRSSP) was the method used to asses HLA-typing of 100 blood samples of 60 AIH patients and 40 healthy normal controls.
Results: comparison between AIH patients and healthy controls showed several antigens deviations in their frequencies. HLA-A*113 (A1/-/Null) observed to play a possible risk factor in this disease while significant loss of HLA-A*2 allele were clearly observed which prompt us to believe that it could act as a protective factor, on the other hand, increased frequency of HLA-B*8 & B*14 were statist