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.
The placenta is an organ between the mother and fetus necessary for fetal growth and development. Gestational diabetes mellitus (DM) is the most frequent metabolic condition detected during pregnancy. It is characterized as hyperglycemia of various severity with onset or first detection during pregnancy that does not clearly describe any form of preexisting diabetes. Urotensin II (UII), a pluripotent vasoactive peptide, is important in developing insulin resistance. This study aimed to determine the level of Urotensin II(UII) in placenta and in the serum of diabetic and nondiabetic women. Methods The blood and placenta tissue collected from 50 ladies had been enrolled in this research ( 25 females with uncomplicated), (25 women with gestati
... Show MoreFumonisin B1 is toxic secondary metabolites compound produced by Fusarium spp. on maize and maize products causes health problems to human and animal. Therefore, this research is planned to study the effect of FB1 on the expression of TLR-2 & 4 in liver and kidney cells of mice. Four group of male mice were orally administrated with single dose of FB1 toxin as the following: 0 ppb, 800 ppb, 1200 ppb and 1600 ppb. After two weeks all animals were sacrificed, liver and kidney autopsies were taken and the level of TLR-2 & 4 detected in each four group by immunohistochemistry technique (IHC). According to the IHC examination of groups (1, 2, 3 and 4) strong expression of TLR2 in liver and kidney were (0%, 33.3%, 100%, 100%), respectively. This
... Show MoreHemogloin (Hb) and serum ferritin levels are used to assess anemia in pregnancy. Some studies referred to the influence of maternal age, body mass index (BMI) and parity on Hb and serum ferritin levels. The study aimed to examine the possible association of maternal Hb and serum ferritin with maternal age, parity, and BMI in a sample of pregnant women in Baghdad.
Ninety healthy pregnant women, grouped in three equal groups according to the pregnancy trimester, and thirty apparently healthy non-pregnant women from Baghdad were enrolled in this observational study. Blood and serum samples were obtained for the estimation of Hb and serum ferritin levels.
The pooled data of participants showed a n
... Show MoreOxidative stress markers are of important diagnostic parameters for many disorders including cholelithiasis. This present study has aimed to assess the state of oxidative stress in symptomatic radiographically confirmed (Cholelithiasis) patients by measuring two parameters used as oxidative stress parameters which are serum myeloperoxidase (MPO) and superoxide dismutase (SOD). This study was carried out on 100 patient diagnosed as (Cholelithiasis) patients with 30 age and sex matched healthy controls by measuring serum (MPO) and (SOD) by ELIZA technique .Results showed significantly decrease in antioxidant enzyme(SOD) and increase in serum level of (MPO) comparing with controls.
Keywords: Cholelithiasis , Oxidative stress
... Show MoreAssociation rules mining (ARM) is a fundamental and widely used data mining technique to achieve useful information about data. The traditional ARM algorithms are degrading computation efficiency by mining too many association rules which are not appropriate for a given user. Recent research in (ARM) is investigating the use of metaheuristic algorithms which are looking for only a subset of high-quality rules. In this paper, a modified discrete cuckoo search algorithm for association rules mining DCS-ARM is proposed for this purpose. The effectiveness of our algorithm is tested against a set of well-known transactional databases. Results indicate that the proposed algorithm outperforms the existing metaheuristic methods.
Background: Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease characterized by joint inflammation, involvement of exocrine salivary and lacrimal glands may occur as extra-articular mani¬festations in this disease. This study aimed to provide evidence of altered in function and composition of salivary gland in patients with rheumatoid arthritis by determine salivary flow rate and some biochemical parameters(total protein, amylase, peroxidase) and to investigate the relationship between disease activity and changes in function and composition of salivary gland. Materials and Methods: Fifty five patients with RA (7 males and 48 females) were enrolled in this study with age range (20-69) years. The patients were separated int
... Show MoreThe issues of journalists and media employees in general and photojournalists in particular have become important issues, especially as those issues are closely linked to the success or failure of the media process.
This research deals with (the issues of Iraqi photojournalists working in local and foreign institutions in Iraq - a case study in 2012), because of the ambiguity in identifying those issues, which focused on the issues of this research.
This was done through the research community of members of the Association of Iraqi photojournalists in Baghdad exclusively of (64) photographers and television photographers to identify the problems encountered in their work
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