Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging zoonotic disease caused by the new respiratory virus SARS-CoV2. It has a tropism in the lung tissues where excess target receptors exist. Periostin plays a role in subepithelial fibrosis associated with bronchial asthma. Since the Coronavirus's target is the human respiratory system, Periostin has been recently described as a valuable new biomarker in the diagnosis and evaluation of disease in patients with COVID-19 lung involvement. Objectives: To assess the level of Periostin in the serum of COVID-19 patients and to correlate its role in disease severity and prognosis. Subjects and Methods: Periostin serum levels were measured for 63 patients attending three main COVID-19 Control Centers in Baghdad, compared to 25 healthy subjects, using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) from January 2021 to April 2022. Results: Serum levels of Periostin among studied groups with (mild - moderate, severe - critical, post-COVID, and controls) were (17.3, 664, 597, and 48) ng/dl respectively. The serum concentration of Periostin was highly significant in (severe- critical and post-COVID) than in other groups. Conclusions: The elevated level of serum Periostin in COVID-19 patients correlated with disease severity and post-COVID lung complications. The high Periostin level is consistent with high inflammatory markers, which might be used as an indicator of COVID-19 severity and predict a bad prognosis.
The thermodynamic constanting of “crude and partially purified” Paraxonase(PON) was evaluated in the sera of “healthy and ectopic” pregnant women in order to characterize the reaction of PON with diethyl para-nitro phenyl phosphate as substrate.This study was performed on (17) women with ectopic pregnancy (EP) whose age between (25-55) years and (25) normal pregnant women with a mean age of (25 -55) years as a control group . Samples were collected from the Medical City, AL-Yarmook and Fatema AL-Zahraa hospitals during the period from Sep.2011 to April 2012.The study included the evaluation of “paraxonase activity, specific activity and total protein” in the (crude and partially purified) sera of EP pa
... Show MoreBackground: The formation of white spot lesions around fixed orthodontic attachments is a common complication during and after fixed orthodontic treatment, which hinders the result of a successfully completed orthodontic treatment. The aim of the study was to assess the effectiveness of the Caries Infiltrant (ICON®) on prevention of caries on the smooth enamel surface when applied alone or combined with conventional adhesives. Materials and methods: Seventy eight human premolar enamel discs were randomly assigned to six groups (n=13). The discs were etched and treated with resins of different monomer content forming the following groups: (1)Untreated etched samples served as the negative control, (2) ICON® (DMG), (3) Adper™ S
... Show MoreBack ground : The transforming growth factor beta (TGFB) signaling pathway is involved in many cellular processes in both the adult organism and the developing embryo including cell growth, cell differentiation, apoptosis. The interaction between implant material and surrounding tissues is believed to play a fundamental role in implant success and illustrates different expression of growth factors by different cells that involved in the formation of peri-implant tissue. The aim of this study was to localize expression of TGF B by newly formed bone tissue around surface-conditioned implants with placental collagen at different time intervals: 3 ,7,14,28, and 56 days . Materials and Methods: Commercially pure Titanium (CPTi) implants coated w
... Show MoreTemporomandibular Disorders (TMD) refer to a group of symptoms where pain is the most leading cause to demand a treatment by the patient. Light therapies are of great importance at current times due to its biosafety and non-invasive quality when used for the management of TMD symptoms. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of red LED light with low-level LASER in treating TMD patients.
A double-blind randomized clinical study was conducted and included 60 patients along 3 groups (20 for e
Background: CYP1A1 gene polymorphisms and tobacco smoking are among several risk factors for various types of cancers, but their influence on breast cancer remains controversial. We analyzed the possible association of CYP1A1 gene polymorphisms and tobacco smoking-related breast cancer in women from Iraq. Materials and methods: In this case-control study, gene polymorphism of CYP1A1 gene (CYP1A1m1, T6235C and CYP1A1m2, A4889G) of 199 histologically verified breast cancer patients' and 160 cancer-free control women's specimens were performed by using PCR-based restriction fragment length polymorphism. Results: Three genotype frequencies (TT, TC, and CC) of CYP1A1m1T/C appeared in 16.1, 29.6, and 54.3% of women with breast cancer, respectiv
... Show MoreBackground: Salvia officinalis is a plant belong to
Labiatae family .The common name of Salvia is sage
which mean save. The leaves of Salvia have special
oil which is effective against filamentous fungi and
yeasts such as Candida albicans which is the
causative agent of vaginal candidiasis in women
Methods. Cultures from 50 swabs of Candida
albicans isolated from vagina of 70 patient women
who complains from vaginal problems, their ages
(24-43) years from Central City Hospital during
Febreoury 2009 to April 2009 were cultured on
Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA) .Nystatin was used
as positive reference standard to determine the
sensitivity of this fungus . and less this concentration
there was no min
Many diseases can produce cardiac overload, of these disease hypertension, valve disease congenital anomaly in addition to many other disease. One of the most common diseases causing left ventricle overload is hypertension. A long term hypertension can cause myocardium hypertrophy leading to changes in the cardiac contractility and reduced efficiency. The investigations were carried out using conventional echocardiography techniques in addition to the tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) from which many noninvasive measurements can be readily obtained. The study has involved the effect of hypertension on the myocardium stiffness index through the measurement of early diastolic filling (E) and the early velocity of lateral mitral annulus (E
... Show MoreMany diseases can produce cardiac overload, of these disease hypertension, valve disease congenital anomaly in addition to many other disease. One of the most common diseases causing left ventricle overload is hypertension. A long term hypertension can cause myocardium hypertrophy leading to changes in the cardiac contractility and reduced efficiency. The investigations were carried out using conventional echocardiography techniques in addition to the tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) from which many noninvasive measurements can be readily obtained. The study has involved the effect of hypertension on the myocardium stiffness index through the measurement of early diastolic filling (E) and the early velocity of lateral mitral annulus (Ea
... Show More