Objectives: 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 hospital at Bagdad. The histological diagnosis had been revised, and all cases were stained by the immunohistochemical technique with HER2/NEU antibody and assessed independently by three pathologists.Results: Out of 42 cases, only two which represent 4.76% showed positive results manifested by a strong membranous staining when immunohistochemically evaluated using the same scoring system established for HER2/NEU in breast cancer. 14 cases (33.3%) showed incomplete membranous and five cases (11.9%) showed only cytoplasmic reaction patterns.Conclusion: The rate of expression of HER2/NEU in medulloblastoma among Iraqi patients is very low and found only in aggressive anaplastic histological type when immunohistochemically evaluated using the same scoring system established for HER2/NEU in breast cancer. However, a good number of negative cases showed cytoplasmic and incomplete membranous staining patterns highlighting the importance of establishing medulloblastoma - specific HER2/NEU scoring criteria and testing methods to discover the unique feature of expression of this therapeutic target in medulloblastoma.
Background: Malignant lymphomas represent about 5% of all malignancy of the head and neck region which can involve lymph nodes as well as soft tissue and bone of the maxillofacial region. Apoptosis is considered a vital component of various processes including normal cell turnover, proper development and functioning of the immune system. Inappropriate apoptosis is a factor in many human conditions including neurodegenerative diseases, ischemic damage, autoimmune disorders and many types of cancer. Expression of p53 Proteins in Hodgkin׳s and Non Hodgkin׳s lymphomas suggested that it can help in monitoring of patients and the markers may aid in controlling the progression of lymphoma and detect the degree of aggressiveness of the diseas
... Show MoreBackground: Hypothyroidism is the most abundant thyroid disorder worldwide. For decades, levothyroxine was the main effective pharmacological treatment for hypothyroidism. A variety of factors can influence levothyroxine dose, such as genetic variations. Studying the impact of genetic polymorphisms on the administration of medications was risen remarkably. Different genetic variations were investigated that might affect levothyroxine dose requirements, especially the deiodinase enzymes. Deiodinase type 2 genetic polymorphisms’ impact on levothyroxine dose was studied in different populations. Objective: To examine the association of the two single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)s of deiodinase type 2 (rs225013 and rs225014) and le
... Show MoreBackground: Hypothyroidism is the most abundant thyroid disorder worldwide. For decades, levothyroxine was the main effective pharmacological treatment for hypothyroidism. A variety of factors can influence levothyroxine dose, such as genetic variations. Studying the impact of genetic polymorphisms on the administration of medications was risen remarkably. Different genetic variations were investigated that might affect levothyroxine dose requirements, especially the deiodinase enzymes. Deiodinase type 2 genetic polymorphisms’ impact on levothyroxine dose was studied in different populations.
Objective: To examine the association of the two single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)s of deiodinase t
... Show MoreABSTRACTBackground: dyslipidemia plays a crucial rule in the development of cardiovascular disease, which has become the leading cause of death in most developed countries as well as in developing countries (1). The effects of reducing low density lipoprotein – C (LDL-C) concentrations on the prevention of cardiovascular events and stroke have been well reported in many clinical trials.Objectives: Evidence supports the use of statins for lipid modifications in the primary prevention of coronary artery disease, morbidity and mortality. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of atorvastatin in treating dyslipidemia in Iraqi obese patients.Methods: 200 overweight and obese patients with hypercholesterolemia, according to NCEP ATP
... Show MoreBackground: Langerhans' cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a group of conditions affecting the reticuloendothelial system. It includes Letterer-Siwe disease, Hand-Schuller-Christian disease and eosinophilic granuloma and most often presents in childhood. Materials and methods: Twenty-five cases of LCH were diagnosed histologically and confirmed by CD1a antibody and assessed immunohistochemically using anti-RANKL and anti-RANK antibodies to evaluate osteoclastogenic mechanism. Results: Regarding jaw cases, there was a significant correlation between CD1a and RANK (P=0.016). While in the skull, highly significant correlation existed between RANK and RANKL (p=0.001). Among the sites, there was no statistically significant difference found for each
... Show MoreBackground: Diabetes mellitus and osteoporosis are two common medical disorders that are becoming more common as the population ages. T2DM patients have a higher fracture hazard, having a high BMD, which is primarily due to the raise hazard of falling. Macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) is one of the hematopoietic growth factor family, and It plays an important function in fracture repair by attracting stem cells to the fracture site and influencing the production of hard calluses by promoting osteoclast genesis.Aims of study: The purpose of this research was to assess the blood level of macrophage colony-stimulating factor in Iraqi osteoporotic patients with and without type 2 diabetes. in addition, that M-CSF may be a predictiv
... Show MoreAcromegaly is a condition that results from excessive growth hormone production by the anterior pituitary gland. Prolidase (PLD) is the only known human enzyme that can hydrolyze dipeptides with an amino acid at their C terminus. Reports indicate that PLD activity serves as a marker for oxidative stress in numerous disorders such as diabetes, diabetic neuropathy, chronic liver diseases, and osteoporosis. The current study aims to estimate the values of PLD, its correlation with the rest of the parameters, and ROC in acromegaly patients. A group of 61 patients with confirmed acromegaly were collected from the National Diabetic Center, Mustansyrriah University, and 60 control groups were analyzed in the same place for the par
... Show MoreThe study aimed to assess the level of ANG‑2 in MM patients at diagnosis and in remission state and elaborate on its correlation with interleukin‑6 (IL‑6) and beta‑2 microglobulin (B2M) levels. Sixty MM patients; 20 newly diagnosed (ND), and 40 patients in remission were included. Twenty healthy individuals were included as a control group. Plasma levels of ANG‑2, B2M, and IL‑6 were tested by enzyme‑lin ked immunosorbent assay. There are significant statistical differences between ND patients and those in remission in hemoglobin, neutrophil count, blood urea, serum creatinine, glomerular filtration rate, B2M, IL6, and ANG‑2 (P = 0.001, 0.033, 0.005, 0.001, 0.001, 0.001, 0.004, and 0.001, respectively). ANG‑2 showed signifi
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