Background: Arylesterase activity of Paraoxonase-1 (ARE-PON-1) exhibits an antioxidant role which protects lipoprotein from oxidation. It is known that ARE-PON-1 antioxidant activity associated with high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) reduces the oxidative damage mediated by low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). The present study was aimed to examine the level of serum ARE-PON1 in Iraqi patients with β-thalassemia minor and its relationship with lipid profile (total cholesterol (TC), HDL-C, very low density lipoprotein (VLDL-C), and LDL-C) and hematologic changes as a part of antioxidant system action. Methods: In the present study, the ARE-PON-1 activity was investigated in serum of patients with β-thalassemia minor. Resu

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is one type of leukemia that arises from lymphocytes' progenitor cell in the Bone marrow, it affects individuals over the age of 50 years in both genders. In Iraq, leukemia affected 1532 (847 males and 683 females) according to the latest announced statistics of the Iraqi Cancer Registry Center in 2012. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia may occur due to several genetic causes, such as chromosomal aberrations and gene mutations, or exposure to carcinogens and mutagens (radiation, chemicals, and oncogenic viruses). The most famous virus is the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which is a gamma herpesvirus that infects more than 90% of individuals. Its infection is mostly a latent infection, and EBV remains latent in memo

Background: Neural tube defects (NTDs) are said to be inherited in a multifactorial fashion, i.e. genetic-environmental interaction. Maternal nutritional deficiencies had long been reported to cause NTDs, especially folate deficiency during early pregnancy. More attention had been paid to the exact mechanism by which this deficiency state causes these defects in the developing embryo. The most significant of all researches was that connecting reduced folate and increased homocysteine level in maternal serum on one hand and the risk of developing a NTD baby on the other hand. Objectives : to determine the significance of homocysteine level in Iraqi mothers who gave birth to babies with NTDs as compared to normal controls. Patients, Materials

Background: Previous studies about the correlation of genetic polymorphisms in the multigene family of cyto- chrome P450 (CYPs), the effect of tobacco smoking, and the risk of developing cancer have been well in- vestigated in different populations, but not in Iraq. Furthermore, the studies of malignance occurrence re- lationship with cigarette tobacco smoking revealed the presence of strong association, however, little is known about the risk of Waterpipe (WP) tobacco smoking. Thus, determination two important genetic polymorphisms in CYP1A1, a main member of CYPs, among Iraqi men was our first aim. This is the first study that highlights the correlation of CYP1A1 polymorphisms with the risk of lung cancer in Iraq. The second aim was to ev

Objectives: Many medication errors occur in the hospital, and these can endanger patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incidence of medication errors in hospitalized patients, and to categorize the most frequent types of errors, and to asses the possible measures that may prevent the occurrence of such errors.
Methods: A prospective, exploratory, and evaluative study, using direct observation method to detect medication errors in adult hospitalized patients in medical and surgical units in Baquba Teaching Hospital- Diyala-Iraq.. The files of 299 patients had been reviewed from July 2009 to September 2009, including medication orders and treatment sheets to detect existing errors. The detected errors were recorded and

This work studies the role of serum apelin-36 and Glutathione S-transferases (GST) activity in association with the hormonal, metabolic profiles and their link to the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in healthy and patients' ladies with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). A total of fifty-four (PCOS) patients and thirty-one healthy woman as a control have been studied. The PCOS patients were subdivided on the basis of body-mass-index (BMI), into 2-subgroups (the first group was obese-PCOS with BMI ≥ 30 and the second group was non-obese PCOS MBI<30). Fasting-insulin-levels and Lipid-profile, Homeostatic-model assessment-of-insulin-resistance (HOMA-IR), follicle-stimulating-hormone (FSH), luteinizing-hormone (LH), testosterone and

Background: Chronic periodontitis is an inflammatory disease that affects the supporting tissues of the teeth and it’s common among adults. Smoking is an important risk factor for periodontitis induces alveolar bone loss. Alkaline phosphatase enzyme is involved in the destruction of the human periodontium. It is produced by many cells such as polymorphonuclear leukocytes, osteoblasts, macrophages and fibroblasts within the area of the periodontium and gingival crevice. Osteocalcin is one of the most abundant matrix proteins found in bones and the only matrix protein synthesized exclusively there. Smaller Osteocalcin fragments are found in areas of bone remodeling and are actually degradation products of the bone matrix.The purpose of

Pituitary adenomas are the anterior pituitary tumors. Patients with an Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor-Interacting Protein (AIP) mutation (AIP- mut) tend to have more aggressive tumors occurring at a younger age. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in many studies have been related to metabolic comorbidities in the general population. Study aims investigated the role of AIP gene SNPs with susceptibility to acromegaly pituitary- adenoma, with levels of LH, FSH, TSH, Testosterone, IGF1,GH, FT4 , Prolactin hormones and blood sugar levels.  The study ‎was conducted on a group of acromegaly patients, including 50 patients) both Genders( with ‎hyperplasia of the ends, and apparently healthy control group. Genotyping of

This study is an attempt to find whether arginine metabolism dysregulation by arginase activity is related to hyperglycemia, followed by changes in nitric oxide (NO) generation in type 2 diabetic patients. This study includes 42 control subjects (Group I), and 92 Iraqi patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The patient group was subdivided into two groups: Group II (54) with T2DM only and Group III (38) with T2DM and dyslipidemia (who were treating with atorvastatin along with diabetes treatment). The samples were obtained to measure arginase activity and NO levels. Serum arginase activity increased significantly in patients(groupII and groupIII) compared to control group. While serum NO level was significantly lower in diabetic pa