The Growth Differentiation Factor -15 (GDF-15) is a member of the transforming growth factor β superfamily. İt represents an example of the stress response cytokines. It's mostly found in cardiac myocytes, adipocytes, macrophages, endothelial cells, and vascular endothelial cells, whether they're generated normally or not. GDF-15 levels have increased and are associated with cardiovascular risk. Aim of the study: To investigate the correlation between angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) with the level of plasma GDF-15 in a group of hypertensive patients. Materials and methods: A case-control study involved 90 individuals, 60 hypertensive patients (36 on ACE inhibitors and 24 on ARBs) and 30 healthy individuals. Serum GDF-15 was measured and compared statistically between the two groups. Results: serum GDF-15 was significantly higher in both groups of hypertensive patients compared to the control group. İn addition, there was no significant difference in mean serum GDF-15 concentration between patients treated with ACE inhibitors with those treated with angiotensin II receptor blockers. Conclusion: GDF-15 increases in hypertensive patients and might be a reasonable marker of cardiovascular disease. Both ACE inhibitors and ARBs are not powerful enough to decrease GDF-15 concentration to that of the control group.
Objective Thalassemic patients present with multiple immune abnormalities that may predispose them to oral Candida, however this has not been investigated. The aim of this study was to assess oral candidal colonization in a group of patients with β-thalassemia major both qualitatively and quantitatively. Study design The oral mycologic flora of 50 β-thalassemia major patients and 50 age- and sex-matched control subjects was assessed using the concentrated oral rinse technique. Candida species were identified using the germ tube test and the Vitek yeast identification system. Results Oral Candida was isolated from 37 patients (74%) and 28 healthy subjects (56%; P = .04). The mean candidal count was significantly higher in thalassemic patie
... Show MoreObjectives: 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
... Show MoreBlood samples of One hundred and twenty patients from different hospitals in Baghdad infected with hydatidosis in different sites of the body (Liver, Lung, multiorgans and kidney) were collected for this study. On the other hand, 30 healthy individuals were included as a control group. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of this disease on the serum protein profile of the patients using electrophoresis. The results revealed four different protein banding patterns with difference in number of bands and their molecular weights in comparison to the control group, and these differences depended on the site of infection. However the data showed a presence of the same band in all patients with different site of infection.
Background: Temperatures and seasons have been suggested as environmental factors that influence fecundity in mammals. It has been reported that there is a link between human fertility and seasonal changes.
Objectives: The aim of the study was to assess whether the seassonal changes in tempreture, humidity, light intensity and light duration do influence fecundity and reproduction in the study group of Iraqi women who were from Baghdad.
Patients and Methods:This study was conducted on 1638 randomly selected womenn who were from Baghdad city and were normaly delivered at Al- Elwiyah Maternity Teaching Hospital during 2014. A detailed questionnaire form was filled through d
... Show MoreBackground: Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) is one of the most common oral mucosal disorders with a prevalence of 50-66%. The prevalence of hematinic deficiencies including ferritin and vitamin B12 deficiencies and their role in the prophylaxis and development of RAS is not well known. Many studies have demonstrated a high prevalence of hematinic deficiencies in patients with RAS. This study aimed to compare the serum level of ferritin and vitamin B12 in patients with recurrent aphthous ulcers and healthy controls. Subjects, Materials and Methods: The data were collected from patients who needed blood analysis to exclude anemia from November 2020 to May 2021. The study was approved by the institutional ethics committee. After recordi
... Show MoreLow serum total adiponectin is associated with a high incidence of type 2 diabetes or coronary artery disease in the general population. Paradoxically, serum total adiponectin is elevated in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), such as overt diabetic nephropathy. The current study aimed to investigate whether or not anemia to be dependently associated with serum level of total adiponectin in non-albuminuric male patients with type 2 diabetes . The study included 42 type 2 diabetic male patients. Anemia was deï¬ned as hemoglobin (Hb) below 14.0g/dL. All the patients were without microalbuminuria, to exclude diabetic nephropathy. The diabetic patients were divided into 2 groups according to the hemoglobin level in ad
... Show MoreThe aim of this study was to establish the existence and interaction of TMPRSS2 – ERG gene fusion status with clinicopathological features of prostate cancer patients. This research consisted of 123 embedded formalin-fixed tissues obtained from the prostate tumor patients. The above gene fusion is detected through the technique of fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) by means of a triple color probe. Seven samples have not been scored due to technical difficulties and 46 patients have fusion (39.6%), while the remaining (70) have not been seen with fusion. Of the 46 fusion-positive, 17 (36%) were caused by ERG-translocation, of the other 29 (63%) were caused by the interstitial segment deletion between the two genes due to the
... Show MoreBackground: Normal Left Ventricular systolic function is present in nearly 50% of patients with congestive heart failure, the majority of such patients have systemic hypertension. Recent studies have demonstrated Left Ventricular dyssynchrony among patients with heart failure and normal systolic function. The co-existence between Left Ventricular dyssynchrony and hypertension with normal systolic function (with no clinical evidence of heart failure) is less well understood.
Objective:
To assess the Left Ventricular dyssynchrony among hypertensive patients with normal systolic function by using Tissue doppler imaging.To find out the associations between the LV dyssynchrony and other global
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