Many international studies indicated that the polymorphisms of some genes disturbed the folate homocysteine (Hcy) metabolism and increased the vulnerability to Down syndrome (DS). We aimed to measure the serum levels of folate and Hcy in DS children and compare the levels with age and sex-matched apparently normal healthy children. We also aimed to study the A80G polymorphism of the gene reduced folate carrier (RFC1) in the DS children as a risk factor. Forty children with DS (24 were boys, and 16 were girls) with the age range between 5-13 years, and 26 normal healthy children (16 boys and ten girls) were included in this study. The results show that the highest genotype in the control group was AG (53.85%) followed by AA and GG (30.

Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is a myeloproliferative neoplasm arises from Bcr-Abl gene translocation(called Ph chromosome) in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs).JAK2V617F mutation is an acquired singlenucleotide polymorphism (SNP) occurs in JAK2 gene and is associated with many hematological malignancyother than CML. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of JAK2V617F mutation and serum levels ofalkaline phophatase (ALP) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in Ph+ CML Iraqi patients treated with imatinib.Blood samples were collected from 42 Ph+ CML patients who have been received at least six month therapywith imatinib. DNA was extracted, and real time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used for JAK2V617Fdetection. Serum levels of A

This study seeks to identify the role that the leadership trend plays in the management of health institutions in Iraq and its impact on improving the quality of the health service provided by analyzing some opinions of affiliates working in the Iraqi health sector where a survey list was used as a main tool for collecting primary data, as it was subjected to this analysis ( 60) of the medical staff, of whom (40) are doctors and (20) are affiliated with the rank of assistant physician, and (60) members of the administrative cadre have undergone their various job ranks and administrative specializations (department manager, auditor, observer, accountant, statistician, secretary). Reliance on statistical software (spss) in data ana

Background : The hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) is defined as the triad of liver disease, arterial deoxygenation, and pulmonary vascular dilatation. The reported prevalence of HPS in cirrhotic patients varies between 5% -17.5%.Objective : To estimate the prevalence of hepatopulmonary syndrome among patients with chronic liver disease and portal hypertension and to study the correlation between HPS and the severity of liver disease.Patients and methods : Thirty patients were studied for the presence of HPS using transthoracic contrast echocardiography for detection of pulmonary vasodilatation. Arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2) was determined in erect and supine position using a pulse oximeter , (SaO2 ≤ 92 % in supine position and/or a d

Anemia of chronic disease (ACD) and iron deficiency anemia (IDA) are the two most important types of anemia in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Functional iron deficiency in ACD can be attributed to overexpression of the main iron regulatory hormone hepcidin leading to diversion of iron from the circulation into storage sites resulting in iron-restricted erythropoiesis. The aim is to investigate the role of circulating hepcidin and to uncover the frequency of IDA in RA. The study included 51 patients with RA. Complete blood counts, serum iron, total iron binding capacity, ferritin, and hepcidin- 25 were assessed. ACD was found in 37.3% of patients, IDA in 11.8%, and combined (ACD/IDA) in 17.6%. Serum hepcidin was higher in ACD than in con

The aim of this study is to determine serum IL-33 levels and atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) .Forty patients with moderate activity of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and forty healthy individuals as control group were enrolled in this study, age (25-45) years. Disease activity was assessed in patients by erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR),C-reactive protein (CRP) and rheumatoid factor(RF) .Also lipid profile(cholesterol TC, triglyceride TG, low density lipoprotein LDL-C, very low density lipoprotein VLDL and high density lipoprotein HDL-C), AIP, and IL-33 were determined in all subjects. The results revealed a significant increase in ESR,CRP and RF , TG, VLDL,AIP and IL-33,while is a significant decrease in HDL concentration in patients gr

The present study was designed to shed light on the molecular effects caused by acute myeloid leukemia (AML). It was also aimed to investigate ASXL1 point mutations in newly AML patients as compared to healthy control. The study comprised of 43 AML Iraqi patients and their ages ranged between 16-75 years. It included 23 females and 20 males compared with 20 healthy controls. Results revealed that the extracted DNA from 30 AML patients and amplified by PCR to obtain ASXL1 gene from exon 12 showed larger bands (479). Among forty three patients, two of them displayed point mutations of deletion and substitution, while the others were normal since no mutations were detected. The total of mutations in two mutated patients was 27 mutations, the m

This study provides valuable information on secondary microbial infections in H1N1 patients compared to Seasonal Influenza in Iraqi Patients. Nasopharynx  swabs were collected from  (12 ) patients  infected with Seasonal influenza (11  from Baghdad  and 1 Patient from south of Iraq) ,and ( 22 ) samples from patients with 2009 H1N1 ( 20 from Baghdad and  2 from  south of Iraq). The results show that the patients infected with 2009 H1N1 Virus were younger than healthy subjects and those infected with seasonal influenza. And the difference reached to the level of significance     (p< 0.01) compared with healthy subjects.Two cases infected with 2009 H1N1 virus (9.1%) were fro

Irinotecan (CPT-11) is a semisynthetic derivative of the antineoplastic agent camptothecin used in a wide range as an anti-cancer agent in many solid tumors because of its cytotoxic effect through the interaction with the topoisomerase I enzyme. The major limiting factors for irinotecan treatment are its association with potentially life-threatening toxicities including neutropenia and acute or delayed-type diarrhea, results from distinct interindividual and interethnic variability due to gene polymorphism.

This is a cross sectional pharmacogentics study was conducted on 25 cancer patients to estimate the prevalence of UGT1A1*93 and ABCC5 allele single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in Iraqi cancer patients treated with irinotecan