The rapid spread of novel coronavirus disease(COVID19) throughout the world without availablespecific treatment or vaccine necessitates alternativeoptions to contain the disease. Historically, childrenand pregnant women were considered high-riskpopulation of infectious diseases but rarely have beenspotlighted nowadays in the regular COVID-19updates, may be due to low global rates of incidence,morbidity, and mortality. However, complications didoccur in these subjects affected by COVID-19. Weaimed to explore the latest updates ofimmunotherapeutic perspectives of COVID-19patients in general population and some added detailsregarding pediatric and obstetrical practice.Immune system boosting strategy is one of therecently emerging issues allowing the body defensemechanism to produce virus-neutralizing antibodies tocounteract the viral impacts on multiple organdamage. Measles vaccination (which is universallyused for children in many countries, butcontraindicated during pregnancy) could urge thebody to produce these antibodies which may applytheir effects through cross-reactivity of measlesvaccine and COVID-19 antigenic proteins. Inaddition, intravenous immunoglobulin andconvalescent plasma could have such neutralizingantibody effect leading to clinical improvement andviral elimination. Pediatric and obstetrical experiencehas appeared in previous publications.Human monoclonal antibodies are the futurepromising approach to treat and prevent COVID-19with the use of tocilizumab in recent studies. Pediatricdata are still in progress while no pregnancy ongoingtrials are planned up to date.The better understanding of the host antiviral responsemay pave the way to develop immunotherapeuticplans against COVID-19 in the near upcoming days.
Background: Behçet’s disease (BD) is a disorder of systemic inflammatory condition. Its important features are represented by recurrent oral, genital ulcerations and eye lesions. Aims. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate and compare cytological changes using morphometric analysis of the exfoliated buccal mucosal cells in Behçet’s disease patients and healthy controls, and to evaluate the clinical characteristics of Behçet’s disease. Methods. Twenty five Behçet’s disease patients have been compared to 25 healthy volunteers as a control group. Papanicolaou stain was used for staining the smears taken from buccal epithelial cells to be analyzed cytomorphometrically. The image analysis sof
... Show MoreBackground: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. The aims of the study: were to determine the prevalence of oral manifestation among patients with major depressive disorder receiving antidepressant drugs, and detect alkaline phosphatase (ALP), Total Salivary proteins (TSP), and Interleukin-6 (IL-6) in relation to MDD patients under treatment and to compare with healthy controls. Materials and method: (50) MDD patients; between the ages of 20 years and 60 years.The depression patients are divided into (25) patients under treatment with fluoxetine (Prozac), and (25) patients under tr
... Show MoreBackground: Direct measurement of intracellular magnesium using erythrocytes has been suggested as a sensitive indicator for the estimation of body magnesium store. Marked depletion in plasma and erythrocyte magnesium levels was particularly evident in diabetic patients with advanced retinopathy and poor diabetic control. While insulin has been shown to stimulate erythrocyte magnesium uptake, hyperglycemia per se suppressed intracellular magnesium in normal human red cells.
Aim of the study: To investigate the erythrocyte magnesium level in Iraqi type I and II diabetic patients, with specific emphasis on the effect of both, metabolic control and the type of antidiabetic treatments.
Methods: Sixty two diabetic patients (7 with type
Hypertension is one of the leading causes of the global burden of disease, which causes serious health problems. The aim of this study is to investigate the lipid profile levels in sera of Iraqi hypertensive patients by measuring Total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) and low density lipoproteins (LDL) and kidney function levels by measuring uric acid, urea and creatinine. Seventy five individuals of Iraqi adults (Males) were divided into three groups: 25 hypertensive patients with duration of disease (1-10) year (group 1), 25 hypertensive patients with duration of disease (11-30) year (group 2) and 25 normal individuals as control group (group3). The findings indicate that serum (TC, TG and LDL) levels were significantly elevated (
... Show MoreThe aim of the currnet study to examine the effect of subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) in diabetic patients on coagulation parameters. This retrospective case–control study involves 130 patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), divided into 65 T2DM with newly diagnosed SCH and 65 euthyroid (EUT) T2DM patients without SCH. Fibrinogen (FIB) was significantly higher in SCH (508.2 ± 63.0 mg/dL) than EUT (428.1 ± 44.8 mg/dL). In the SCH patients, FIB correlated with several parameters, such as age (β = 0.396), body mass index (β = 0.578), glycated hemoglobin (β = 0.281), and activated partial thromboplastin time (β = 0.276). In conclusion SCH in DM patients appears to increase the magnitude of coagulopathy.
... Show MoreObjective: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Benson Relaxation Technique (BRT) in reducing pain during femoral artery sheath removal after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods and Materials: A randomized controlled trial was conducted at three cardiac centers in Iraq. A total of 58 patients undergoing therapeutic PCI were randomly assigned into two groups: intervention (n=27) and control (n=31). The intervention group received BRT for 10 minutes before and after sheath removal. Pain was assessed using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) immediately after the procedure. Demographic data and clinical variables were collected. Data were analyzed using SPSS v26 and non-parametric tests (Mann-Whitney U, Krus
... Show MoreAbstract This study explores the extent to which public relations (PR) departments within Traqj governmental institutions are integrating artificial intelligence (AI) applications into their communication activities. The research adresses the growing importanc of AI in enhancing administrative efficieney, communication transparency, and stakeholder engagement. Adopting a descriptive research design, the study relied on an electtonic questionnaire distributed to PR profesionals across various ministries and government bodies, collecting 100 valid responses. The indings reveal that while younger PR practitioners are actively embracing AI, older employees show limited engagement. Most participants acquired AI-related skills through self- learn
... Show MoreBACKGROUND: Chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) is common, yet no curative treatment identified. Cinnamon is a herbal substance, which has many applications in medicine. AIM: The aim of the study was to study the effect of cinnamon on patients with chronic pelvic pain syndrome. METHODS: Sixty patients with documented CP/CPPS randomized into two groups during 2018 and 2019 in Baghdad. The first group received 60 capsules each contained 1 g of cinnamon. The other group received 60 capsules each contained 1 g of sugar powder (placebo). All the patients instructed to take one capsule twice daily for 1 month. National Institutes of Health-Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI) was reported for bot
... Show MoreBackground: Diabetes mellitus type 2 has been known for many years as the most common endocrine metabolic disorder that affect the oral cavity and cause many oral diseases including candidiasis. In this study, the incidence of Candida spp. in the saliva of controlled and uncontrolled diabetic patients were determined and compared with non diabetic group. Material and method: The sample consists of 200 subjects: 100 diabetic patients [57 (28.5%) uncontrolled diabetes, 43 (21.5%) controlled diabetes] and 100 (50%) non diabetic groups. Saliva samples was obtained from the subjects and cultured on selective media using appropriate microbiological method to observe the presence of Candida spp. Results: The results revealed a significant associat
... Show MoreMany pathophysiological processes can affect the pharmacokinetic properties of drugs in people with diabetes. The present study was deigned to evaluate the influence of diabetes mellitus (DM) on the pharmacokinetic parameters of metronidazole administered as single oral dose. Twelve healthy volunteers and twelve diabetic patients were enrolled in the present study. On day 1, a single oral dose of metronidazole 500 mg was administered orally to all participants at 9:00 am after a 10-hour fasting. Over the following 48 hours, blood samples were taken at frequent intervals and serum metronidazole concentrations were measured by a high-performance liquid chromatography method for assessment of pharmacokinetics of metronid
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