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.
This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the COVID-19 outbreak on emergencies and pain among orthodontic patients attending a teaching hospital. The study was conducted among orthodontic patients receiving active orthodontic treatment or in a retention period at the College of Dentistry, University of Baghdad, Iraq. Their participation was voluntary, and they filled out an Arabic-translated questionnaire. The survey included general information, orthodontic problems, and a numerical rating scale for pain assessment. We used descriptive and inferential statistics (frequencies and intersecting frequencies), chi-square test and linear regression. Out of 75 orthodontic patients, only 54 (15 males and 39 females) were included in the s
... Show MoreObjective: To assess the role of tumour necrosis factor alpha level and genotyping in susceptibility to leishmaniasis.Method: The case-control study was conducted from March to July 2021 at Baqubah Teaching Hospital, Diyala, Iraq,and comprised patients of cutaneous leishmaniasis in group A and healthy controls in group B. The serum level andsingle nucleotide polymorphisms of tumour necrosis factor-alpha rs41297589 and rs1800629 were compared betweenthe groups. Data was analysed using SPSS 28.Results: Of the 150 subjects, there were 75(50%) in group A; 39(52%) males and 36(48%) females with mean age23.91±13.14 years. The remaining 75(50%) subjects were in group B; 38(50.7%) males and 37(49.3%) females withmean age 22.84±4.35 years.
... Show MoreAnaemia is a crucial issue among cancer patients and need to be treated properly. High incidence of anaemia in patients with cancer have been associated with several physiological manifestations, leading to decreased quality of life (QOL).
The current study aimed to assess the severity of anaemia, evaluate the current treatment guideline of anaemia, and to determine the association between the level of anaemia and its treatment on quality of life of breast cancer patients in Malaysia. This prospective study conducted among breast cancer patients in multicancer centers in Malaysia including three follow ups after receiving their chemotherapy. Clinical data were collected from their medical records and at each follow up, they asked
... Show MoreBackground :Atherosclerosis is the most
frequent underlying cause of ischemic heart
disease and a major cause of death all over the
world. This study was carried out to analyze and
compare the angiographic findings in patients
with diabetes mellitus versus non diabetics with
coronary heart disease , and to correlate these
findings with some risk factors for coronary
heart disease.
Methods: A total of 100 patients were studied,
50 with diabetes mellitus, and 50 non diabetics.
This study was carried out at Al-Sadr teaching
hospital in Basrah, Southern Iraq during the
period April 2009- September 2009. All patients
were known to have coronary heart disease. Risk
factors for coronary heart disease
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic systemic inflammatory disease. Inflammation leads to joint damage and increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a measure of inflammation in many diseases. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the usefulness of NLR to detect inflammation in RA, and its correlation to RA disease activity indices and some hematological parameters. A cross-sectional study involving 24 patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who are using MTX participated in this study. All patients were clinically evaluated using disease activity score of 28 joints (DAS28) and simplified disease activity index (SDAI), whereas functional disability was assessed by health assessment questionnaire di
... Show MoreCeliac disease (CD) is an inflammatory small intestinal disorder that can lead to severe villous atrophy, and malabsorption . Since the measurement of α-amylase activity is the most widely used biochemical test for the diagnosis of pancreatic and non pancreatic disease , therefore serum α-amylase were studied in the present study in an attempt to evaluate the usefulness of this enzyme in the diagnosis of celiac disease and its relationship with anti gliadin IgA and IgG and serum glucose . Thirty one patients with celiac disease were studied and compared with twenty four healthy individuals . Significant elevation of α-amylase activity , glucose and anti gliadin IgA and IgG were observed in the sera of patients with celiac diseas
... Show MoreBackground: Hyperthyroidism is a serious public concern, due the continuous increase in its prevalence and its impact on the mortality rates. Autoimmune hyperthyroidism is seen as a thyroid gland problem. Pro-inflammatory cytokines are crucial for the growth and development of hyperthyroidism, it was shown that the level of several pro-inflammatory cytokines were higher in the hyperthyroidism patients. Objective: This work was aimed to assessment the concentration of certain cytokine in hyperthyroid patients. Materials and Methods: Sixty hyperthyroidism patients and 30 healthy individuals with age range from (30-65) years old were enrolled in this study through their presence at the National Center for Diabetes Treatment and Research in Bag
... Show MoreBackground: COVID-19 is a disease that started in Wuhan/China in late 2019 and continued through 2020 worldwide. Scientists worldwide continue to research to find vaccines, treatments, and medication for this disease. Studies also conenue to find the pathogenicity and epidemiology mechanisms. Materials and Methods: In this work, we analyzed cases obtained from Alshifaa center in Baghdad/Iraq for 23/2/2020-31/5/2020 with total instances of 797, positive cases of 393, and death cases of 30. Results: Results showed that the highest infection cases were among people aged between 41-45. Also, it was found that males' number of cases was more than females. In contrast, death cases were significantly higher in males than females. It was not
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