The clinical spectrum of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), an intracellular parasitic pathogen, ranges from a single sore healing to chronic crusty lesions with a manifestation of treatment resistance. The complicated interaction between Leishmania bodies and the early immune response, including innate and adaptive mechanisms, determines the evolution of nodules. This study examined the levels of the chemoattractant interleukin 8 (IL-8), pro-inflammatory nitric oxide (NO), and immunoregulatory macrophage inhibitory factor (MIF) in the serum of subjects recently diagnosed with cutaneous leishmaniasis, in parallel with patients being monitored during consecutive sodium stibogluconate (Pentostam) treatment. A total of 161 serum samples of newly diagnosed individuals and patients undergoing pentostam injections were collected form an endemic area of Diyala, east central of Iraq. Sandwich ELISA was used to measure the level of IL-8, NO and MIF in the studied groups. Results of circulatory markers levels showed a considerable difference in all groups, with IL-8 being exceptionally higher in the first two groups of pretreated and dose-1 (191.5, 273.64) pg/ml respectively, while NO was found to be lower than in control subjects, particularly in the pretreated group (12.08 μmol/L) and MIF level was significantly higher in the pretreated group, which was (7.18 pg/ml). These findings can provide insights for distinction of disease phase and monitoring treatment efficacy along consecutive dosages, particularly in populations where CL is endemic.
Introduction/Aim. Seminal fluid analysis (SFA) plays a crucial role in helping infertility clinics diagnose the underlying reason of male infertility. The aim of the study was to investigate seminal fluid patterns of male partners of an infertile couple with apparently fertile female partners. Materials and methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted between January 2019 and December 2022. Patients were attending consultations for delayed conception for more than 12 months with apparently fertile female partner. Results. Four hundred fifty-three patients were included in the study. The distribution of patients according to age groups showed that 277 patients were young, aged 21 - 30 years (61%). Two hundred sixty-two (58%) patien
... Show MoreThe alfalfa plant, after harvesting, was washed, dried, and grinded to get fine powder used in water treatment. We used the alfalfa plant with ethanol to make the alcoholic extract characterized by using (GC-Mass, FTIR, and UV) spectroscopy to determine active compounds. Alcoholic extract was used to prepare zinc nanoparticles. We characterized Zinc nanoparticles using (FTIR, UV, SEM, EDX Zeta potential, XRD, AFM). Zinc nanoparticle with Alfalfa extract and alfalfa powder were used in the treatment of water polluted with inorganic elements such as Cr, Mn, Fe, Cu, Cd, Ag by (Batch processing). The batch process with using alfalfa powder gets treated with Pb (51.45%), which is the highest percentage of treatment. Mn (13.18%), which is the
... Show MoreThe alfalfa plant, after harvesting, was washed, dried, and grinded to get fine powder used in water treatment. We used the alfalfa plant with ethanol to make the alcoholic extract characterized by using (GCMass, FTIR, and UV) spectroscopy to determine active compounds. Alcoholic extract was used to prepare zinc nanoparticles. We characterized Zinc nanoparticles using (FTIR, UV, SEM, EDX Zeta potential, XRD, AFM). Zinc nanoparticle with Alfalfa extract and alfalfa powder were used in the treatment of water polluted with inorganic elements such as Cr, Mn, Fe, Cu, Cd, Ag by (Batch processing). The batch process with using alfalfa powder gets treated with Pb (51.45%), which is the highest percentage of treatment. Mn (13.18%), which is the lowe
... Show MoreBackground: The diagnosis of prostatic pathology may be of challenging , as some difficult and suspected, atypical cases may lack basal cell layer by routine H&E sections . Antibodies against 34BE12(HMW-CK) and p63 aid the diagnosis of such cases , to distinguish benign from malignant prostatic lesions.
Objective: to identify basal cells in atypical prostatic lesions ,and distinguish benign from malignant prostatic lesions.
Type of the study: A retro-spective study.
Methods: 115cases of paraffin embedded prostatic tissue blocks ,diagnosed as : 76 cases were benign prostatic hy
... Show MoreTopic management is the awareness of how speakers deal with initiating, developing, changing, and ending a topic and how they fix the relationship when a misunderstanding occurs. It is such an important unit of conversation as it includes the transition from one strategy to the other to be accomplished in a systematic and orderly manner. These strategies are impaired in dementia patients thus lead to communication breakdown. This study aims at detecting the dementia patients' topic management strategies in selected speeches and answering the questions of which of these strategies are fully or partially detected in these speeches. The researchers use a qualitative method to examine the speeches of those patients and they adopt an eclectic
... Show MoreThe present study evaluates the effects of Ginkgo biloba extract as monotherapy on the glycemic status, insulin resistance (IR), body mass index (BMI), and visceral adiposity index (VAI), in addition to the inflammatory markers, oxidative status and leptin level in patients with metabolic syndrome in comparison with metformin.
The study is a randomized, double-blind pilot study conducted during the period May to September, 2020. Fifty patients were recruited in the study and they were allocated into two groups (25 per each group): Ginkgo biloba and Metformin groups, they received (120 mg Ginkgo biloba extract/ capsule) and (500 mg Metformin/ capsule) respectively; orally as a single dose for 90 days. Blood samples were taken at z
... Show MoreBackground: Skull secondary tumors are malignant bone tumors which are increasing in incidence.Objective: The objectives of this study were to present clinical features , asses the outcome of patients with secondary skull tumors ,characterize the MRI features, locations, and extent of secondary skull tumors to determine the frequency of the symptomatic disease.Type of the study: This is a prospective study.Methods: This is a prospective study from February 2000 to February 2008. The patients were selected from five neurosurgical centers and one oncology hospital in Baghdad/Iraq. The inclusion criteria were MRI study of the head(either as an initial radiological study or following head CT scan when secondary brain tumor is suspected , vis
... Show MoreBackground: Oxidative stress may contribute to the etiology of hypertension in humans. Oxidative stress is an imbalance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidant defense mechanisms, causing damage to biological macromolecules and dysregulation of normal metabolism and physiology. Amlodipine as an antihypertensive agent is a long-acting calcium channel blocker that dilates blood vessels and improves blood flow. The aim of this study was to assess the oxidative stress in hypertensive patients on Amlodipine treatment through the assessment of salivary Malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) as a marker of oxidative stress.
Mat
... Show MoreAcromegaly is a rare disease produce generalize and serious alteration in the patient with active disease. Many of these patients are also diabetic. Many analytes, hormones, markers are change in these disease. The objective of study is to assess the modification in a number of parameters that changed during the acromegaly as a result of excess in GH and IGF1 levels. The study included 36 patients and 38 healthy controls, paired by sex and age and BMI. Serum concentration of GH and the other parameters including (insulin, glucose, lipid profile, uric acid ) were determined by biochemical method .Compared to controls, acromegalic patients had increased levels of GH, insulin, glucose, triglyceride, very low density lipoprotein(VLDL) (p<0.05)
... Show MoreEvaluating treatment effect on interferon-alpha in female patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: a case-control study