Background: Nodal osteoarthritis is one of the most common arthropathy worldwide, the etiology is uncertain but many biochemical markers are recognized. Many studies have shown that leptin might have a role in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis, but little is known about the relation between serum leptin and nodal osteoarthritis.
Subjects and method: 52 women with nodal osteoarthritis and 40 apparently healthy women as a control were included in the study; serum leptin was measured in all subjects. Student t-test was applied to find out the significance of difference in the mean v
Results: There was a significant difference in the mean of serum leptin between patients and control groups.
Conclusion:

Background: Oral squamous cell carcinoma continues to be a major health problem in Iraq as well as in other countries. Many attempts were made to study molecular markers in oral squamous cell carcinoma and to link them to tumor grade, stage and prognosis, besides studying their role in carcinogenesis. The present study has been designed to detect mRNA of c-myc in oral squamous cell carcinoma compared to oral dysplasia and to link the marker to grade and degree of the two pathologies.
Materials and methods: Forty two cases, including 30 cases of oral squamous cell carcinoma and 12 cases of oral dysplasia were included in this study. Sections on positively charged slides were made from their paraffin blocks

Background: Many workers have described the prevalence of HBV markers and anti-HCV among selected populations including health care personnel in Iraq. The purpose of this study is to describe the demographic characteristics and risk factors of hepatitis B and C in a sample of Iraqi health care workers (HCWs).
Materials and methods: A total of 1656 HCWs selected from Baghdad city was included in this study. A questionnaire form was filled for each HCW by direct interview. The data requested
included demographic characteristics and risk factors of exposure to HBV and HCV. HCWs were screened for the presence of HBsAg, anti-HBs and anti-HCV.
Results: A higher prevalence of HBsAg, anti-HBs and anti-HCV was de

Background: Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) is the most polymorphic genetic system in man. The genes of this region influence susceptibility to certain diseases.
Patients and methods: Immunofixation test is the method used to asses C4 polymorphism of 100 blood samples of 60 AIH patients and 40 healthy normal controls.
Results: An increased frequency of C4A*Q0 was observed for patients group versus control group with P-value (0.003).
Conclusions: This finding demonstrated that C4A*Q0 might play a role in AIH susceptibility.

Background: There is a general acceptance which illustrated that auto antibodies act as a central immunological disturbance in most of the auto immune diseases, among these auto immune diseaselies the SLE
Patients and Methods: Thirty five patients with SLE were compared to twenty age and sex matched, control subjects and studied for the presence of auto antibodies, plus IL-4 and IL-6 using Elisa method and immune fluorescent method (for ANA only)
Results: Data showed that IL-6 detectable levels were statistically significant in patients with positive anti ds-DNA, but not significant statistically in ANA positive patients although it was detected in 24 (70.6%) of positive ANA patients, while there was no sta

Back ground: Visceral leishmaniasis is an endemic protozoan disease in Iraq. Recovery from this disease confers a solid and permanent immunity. Immunological assessment of our patients was carried out and the results showed a significant reduction in the percentage of CD3, CD56 and a significant increase in the percentage of CD19 in the peripheral blood lymphocyte of VL in comparison with control group.
Patients and methods: Indirect immunofluorescence technique analysis was performed to detect the percentage of CD3, CD19and CD56 positive lymphocytes.
Results: Our results in the patients groups showed decrease in the percentage of CD3, CD56 and increase in the percentage of CD19. Follow up of patients after

Background: The removal of an impacted foreign body in the esophagus is still a common practice in the Thoracic Department of the Medical City Hospital .The objective of this study is to cast a light on this rather a common phenomenon in our country , its risks and its management.
Patients and Methods: This is a retrospective study of 120 patients with foreign bodies in the esophagus managed successfully in our department during five years period 1998 – 2002 inclusive .The study included 65 males and 55 females . Their ages range between I year and 75 years. The most common age group was less than 10 years , which constitutes about 30% of our patients .Varieties of foreign bodies were encountered ,their

Background: Shunt operations are performed for different reasons mainly hydrocephalus congenital or acquired. It’s associated with certain morbidity and mortality.
Patients and method: A prospective study from Jan 2004 to Jan 2006, 226 patients under went shunt operation in the specialized surgical hospital in Baghdad. The patients were divided into two groups according to the way of applying the upper end catheter. In group A49 patients where posterior parietal approach was used, and group (B) 174 where parietal or temproprietal approach was used.
Results and discussions: different complications were recorded, but the most frequent was upper end obstruction by choroids plexus or by debris. In group

Background: Aluminium (Al) intoxication was recognised as a causal agent in p a t i ent s undergoing haemodialysis and then was linked to Alzheimer's disease. Nevertheless, environmental pollution with Al is mainly v i a drinking water, particularly when acidic rain falls on Al containing soil and bedrock. In addition, aluminium utens i l s are widely used for cooking. Therefore, an increasing concern is emerging for the role of pH in the absorption of aluminium from ingested food.
Materials and methods: The objective of this study was to establish the effect of acidification with1 ml/dL of concentrated acetic acid on the absorption of aluminium from a 5 mM a l u mi n i u m sulphate\ solution taken orally

B

Background: Hydatid disease remains an important & challenging medical problem.
Case report: A62 year old male patient was admitted complaining of upper abdominal discomfort. Six days earlier he suffered from acute pain in the right upper quadrant, mild systemic allergic manifestation, a fever of 38.5oC and chills. He was managed by a new surgical approach of myoplasty of the right hemidiaphragm combined with preoperative decompression of the bile duct by an endoscopic sphincterotomy. A case search identified study describing rupture of a hydatid cyst of the hepatic dome into biliary tract. The incidence of intrabiliary rupture of hepatic hydatid cysts is 25% in patients treated with external surgical

This article aims to cast a shadow over the history of mental health education and training in Iraq and a projection of Islamic scientific heritage in Baghdad during the seventh century. It also discloses the foundation of first teaching and training centers in psychiatry focusing on the marked contribution of the pioneer psychiatrists. Introduction. Up to our knowledge there is no elaborate published literature focusing on historical role of Iraq in mental health education and training and its current reality apart from scares data about mental health in Mediterranean region as a whole. In this article, we try calling the attention to the outstanding contribution of Iraq in mental health and medical educati

Background: Adenoidal hypertrophy is generally considered a common condition of childhood .When obstructive symptoms or recurrent otitis media (suppurative or non suppurative) occurs, adenoidectomy is generally indicated.A wide range of bacteria could be isolated from the surface and core tissue of the removed adenoid tissue.
Patients and Methods: A prospective study carried out in the ENT Department of AL-DIWANIYAH Teaching Hospital between October 2007 and September 2008.Involved 73 patients between 3 and 7 years, they were 31 male and 42 female .All patients underwent adenoidectomy .Surface and core swabs was taken from all specimens and submitted to bacteriological study.
Results: Pathogens were de

Background: management modalities for liver metastasis from primary breast cancer are evolving steadily but systemic chemotherapy remains the mainstay of treatment.
Patients and methods: 30 patients with breast carcinoma and liver metastasis managed at (Baghdad teaching hospital) during the period from Jan. 2005 to Jan. 2007.
Results: 16 patients showed response to chemotherapy. 20% complete response was found and 33% showed partial response 57% went into progressive disease. The duration of response lasted for less than six months in 4 patients and more than six months in two patients.
Conclusion: chemotherapy remains the mainstay of treatment of liver metastasis but new modalities of treatment add much

Background: Molecular DNA hybridization has confirmed more than 120 different human papilloma virus (HPV) genotypes. A small group of them have high- risk oncogenic potential. Many studies have described an association of such high risk-HPV genotypes with a variety of esophageal benign tumors as well as malignant squamous cell carcinomas.
Patients and Methods: A total number of 90 tissue specimens were collected from 50 patients with esophageal squamous cell (SCC), adenocarcinoma (AC) and carcinoma in situ (CIS); 20 patients with squamous acanthosis (SA); and 20 individuals with apparently-healthy esophageal tissues (AHET). The molecular detection methods for HPV detection and genotyping were performed by in s

Background: Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common cause of anovulation during reproductive life.Resistin can increase ovarian androgen production by directly stimulating ovarian theca cell or indirectly by augmenting pancreatic – B cell production of insulin.
Patients and Methods: Sixty patients with PCOS who were non diabetic and not taking any medicine for the last three months were involved in the study .Thirty normal fertile female serves as control group. Fasting blood samples were aspirated from all individuals from 3rd - 6th day of the menstrual cycle to measure resistin, insulin, glucose, LH, FSH, TT3, TT4, Prolactin , Total Testosterone and lipid profile, by ELISA and rou

Background: Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is heterogenous syndrome. Because the diversity of disease processes and formation of complex lymphoid microstructures that indicate the multiple T cell activation pathways are involved .affected patients have major abnormalities in the T cell pool with clonally expanded CD4  + T cell that lose expression of the CD28null molecule and lack the ability for profiliration. Adenosine deaminase (ADA) is an indicator of the proliferation and differenation of lymphocyte, in particularly the T cell subcells.
Patients and Methods: Total ADA levels were measured in the sera of RA patients and healthy group according to Giusti (1981).
Results: The mean value of ADA was lo

Background: The umbilicus, before and shortly after sloughing of the cord, can be a source of infection or toxicity. The infection can be severe, such as septicaemia
or tetanus neonatorum.
Method: Mothers of 200 neonates seen at the Children Welfare Hospital, outpatient department, Baghdad, and at Al-Takia health centre, Baquba, were interviewed about the separation of the umbilical stump and the care of the umbilicus after delivery at home or hospital, in the period, January to July 2003, excluding March and April, the time of active military invasion of the country.
Results: For occlusion of the cord a plastic clamp was used in all hospital deliveries, and 80% of home deliveries. A cotton thread or a s

Background: Inhibitor development and HCV are considered the most serious complications of hemophilia treatment. Many factors may increase the risk of complications which include: type of hemophilia, age of the patient, age of onset, duration of the disease, & number of replacement per month. Patients and methods: A descriptive study included 200 patients less than 20 years of age admitted to the Hemophilia Center in Children Welfare Teaching Hospital , medical city in Baghdad , their data ( ag , sex , disease onset and duration , severity of hemophilia ) were collected over 8 months period from 1st January to 31st August 2006. Mixing tests and serology tests for HCV and HBV were performed for all patien

Background: Glomerular injury can be caused by immunologic, infectious, toxic, metabolic and heamodynamic factors. The glomerular response to injury determines the pathology, which can be observed in renal biopsy. The purpose of this study was to analyze different histopathological subtypes of primary and secondary glomerular diseases in children.
Patients and methods: A retrospective study was done on 100 renal biopsy cases in children welfare teaching hospital between December 2003 and December 2007. Ultrasonically guided
biopsies were taken and only light microscopy was used to examine the specimens.
Results: The study group included 100 cases with renal diseases, 83 (83%) cases of which having primar

Background: Infectious mononucleosis (IM) is a lymphoproliferative disease caused primarily by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. The initial viral infection by EBV occurs in B lymphocytes and is followed by an extensive proliferation of T lymphocytes. Previous studies on immunity to EBV (including IM) have mainly focused on activation of peripheral blood T cells, which are responsible for the lymphocytosis in blood during acute IM.
Patients and Methods: Indirect immunofluorescence technique analysis was performed to detect the percentage of CD3, CD4, CD8, CD19, and CD56 positive lymphocytes.
Results: Our results on the phenotype of T cells in samples from patients with infectious mononucleosis sh

Background: CA19-9 is among a group of mucin glycoprotein sialosyl lewis antigen (SLA) having come to be recognized as a circulating cancer associated antigen for gastrointestinal cancer. Basic research into cancer causation will be a powerful determinant of intervention in the transformation process reinforcing the need for developing effective molecular tumor biomarkers for early detection of malignant evolution in tissues of organs i.e. stomach, colon and rectum. In this study, we make a comparsion between the levels of CA19-9 in sera and tissues of patients with these diseases to see if their levels are proportional and if it is a tumor marker that affect with malignant cells in tissues of these org

Background: A quick and easy method was developed for extraction of DNA of eukaryotes from different samples, which are bone marrow and sperms in white mice Mus musculus strain (Balb/c).
Patients and Methods: this method using high salt buffer, Ethylene diemine tetracetec acid (EDTA), Trypsine,Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate(SDS), and urea without using Proteinase-K digestion or ultracentrifugation.
Results: This method was successful in extracting DNA from different samples in eukaryotic and this DNA is suitable for Hind III digestion.
Conclusion: Without further clean-up, the extracted DNA can be used for restriction endonuclease digestion or for numerous applications.

Background: The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a disorders caused by cellular and humoral immune dysfunction from infection by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV 1 and HIV 2).
Patients and Methods: The study was carried out in Kirkuk governorate on 5090 secondary school students from different localities of the city, for the period from the beginning of October 2005 to the end of March 2006. A special questionnaire was applied for each student containing age, sex, class, parent’s education, mode of transmission & methods of prevention.
Results: There was no significant difference between male and female regarding the etiology of AIDS.The knowledge of secondary school students was

Background: The study was conducted to investigate the association between hyperprolactinaemia and markers of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) system in a sample of Iraqi infertile females, together with the profile anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA).
Objectives: One hundred and seventy five female patients (age range: 20 -40 years) were recruited in this study. They were attending the Institute for Embryo Research and Infertility Treatment (Al-Nahrain University) during the period January 2005 - September 2006.
Results:After clinical and laboratry evaluations, it was found that 100 patients were hyperprolactinaemic, whereas the other 75 patients were euprolactinaemic, therefore, they were considered as a control group. Based on serum le

Background: Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a rare chronic liver disease of known etiology, characterized by hypergammaglobulinemia, characteristic auto antibodies, and a favorable response to immunosuppressive treatment.Strong circumstantial evidences denoted that there is quite long list of environmental factors such as (food additives and drugs), viruses and toxins which play an important role in precipitating this disease.<br />Patients and Methods: the study was performed on 13 Iraqi patients with acute viral hepatitis, attending the Teaching Hospital for Gastroenterology and Liver Disease and Al-Khadymia Teaching Hospital in the period between November 2003 and July 2005. ANA, SMA and anti-LKM 1 were detected by immunoflurescen

Background:Breast carcinoma is the most common malignant tumor and the leading cause of carcinoma death in women, with more than 1,000,000 cases occurring worldwide annually.(1) as a matter of fact , the mortality rate for breast carcinoma changed very little from the 1930s to the early 1990s, because of the combined action of earlier diagnosis and improved therapy .<br />Materials and methods: The prospective study included 500 cases of breast carcinoma who went total mastectomy , between October 2006- April 2007, where taken from private pathology laboratory , sections(4microns) are taken and stained with H&E stain and over-reviewed.<br />Results: Clinicopathological analysis of the 500 cases of breast carcinoma, includ

Background: The most important advances in medical education in the last decade are the shift in focus from learning objectives to learning outcomes. The advantages of active over passive learning are researched-based. The aim of this study was to evaluate the students reading habits; utilization of lectures, group study, resources utilized during study, and if there is a need to change the curriculum.<br />Methods: A prospective study was done in Medical City Teaching Hospital, from January 2007 to January 2008, including 438 students from the college of medicine, university of Baghdad. A questionnaire consist of 28 questions was given to them. These questionnaire elicited responses regarding reading habits, utilization of lecture

Background: Plane warts represent a common dermatological problem encountered in daily practice with no uniformly effective treatment modality.<br />Patients and methods: This study was conducted at the Department of Dermatology and Venereology of Baghdad Teaching Hospital / Medical City from April 2005 to June 2006. Fifty patients enrolled in the study and 36 completed it. Patients were instructed to apply isotretinoin gel once daily and keep on regular follow up every 2 weeks for one month to assess the esponse and side effects. At the end of the first month those with complete cure were instructed to stop therapy and keep on regular follow up to detect any recurrence.Patients with no response were divided into 2 groups. One grou

Background: Acne vulgaris is a common skin problem. It affects areas of high density of sebaceous glands like the face, chest and back. The penile skin is no exception, also can be affected with acne, however little was written on this subject.<br />Patients & Methods: This is a clinical epidemiological study conducted at the Department of Dermatology & Venereology- Baghdad Teaching Hospital, during the period between December 2007 and May 2008. Seventy six male patients with facial acne vulgaris were enrolled in the study. A full history includes age, age of onset of facial acne and any penile lesion observed by the patient Examination of the face was done for the severity of acne and grading it into mild, moderate, severe