Objective: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients have increased morbidity and mortality from premature cardiovascular (CV) disease (CVD). Framingham risk score (FRS) is a simplified coronary prediction tool developed to enable clinicians to assess the risk of a cardiovascular event and to identify candidate patients for risk factors modifications worldwide. The predictive ability of the FRS varies between populations, ethnic groups, and socio-economic status. The aim of this study is to find if there is any correlation between the Framingham risk score and the inflammatory and biochemical parameters used to measure disease activity and functional ability in Iraqi patients with active RA.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the levels of trace elements Magnesium (Mg), Zinc (Zn), Copper (Cu), and Selenium (Se) in blood sera of asthmatic patients by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS). The concentrations of Mg, Cu, and Zn have been determined by Flame Atomic Absorption spectrophotometry (FAAS), and Se with flameless Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (GFAAS). The study involves (55) asthmatic patients as study group and (28) subjects as control from both genders. Serum levels of Mg, Cu, and Se were significantly higher (p<0.001 for all) in patients when compared with healthy subjects, while Zn level was relatively significant (p<0.05). Our observations confirm the efficacy and applicability of (AAS) in

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

     Evolutionary algorithms (EAs), as global search methods, are proved to be more robust than their counterpart local heuristics for detecting protein complexes in protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks. Typically, the source of robustness of these EAs comes from their components and parameters. These components are solution representation, selection, crossover, and mutation. Unfortunately, almost all EA based complex detection methods suggested in the literature were designed with only canonical or traditional components. Further, topological structure of the protein network is the main information that is used in the design of almost all such components. The main contribution of this paper is to formulate a more robust E

Leishmania species are the causative agent of a tropical disease known as leishmaniasis. Previous studies on the old world species Leishmania major, showed that the amastigotes form which resides inside the macrophage of the vertebrate host, utilize host’s sphingolipids for survival and proliferation. In this study, gene expression of serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT) subunit two (MmLCB2) of the mouse macrophage cell line (RAW264.7), which is the first enzyme in the de novo sphingolipid biosynthesis, was detected in both infected and non-infected macrophages. This was detected under condition where available sphingolipid was reduced, with the new world species Leishmania mexicana. Results of qPCR analysis showed that there was no differen

Antibiotic resistance is the capability of the strains to resist or protect themselves from the effects of an antibiotic. Such a resistance towards the current antimicrobials leads to the search of novel antimicrobials. Nanotechnology has been promising in different field of science and among it is the use of nanoparticles as antibacterial agents. The gastrointestinal tract seems to be the primary reservoir of uropathogenic E.coli (UPEC) in humans. UPEC strains harbour the urinary tract and cause urinary tract infection. They cause serious ailments in terms of humans. They develop resistance and increase their virulence by forming biofilms. They also show a remarkable locomotory movement with the aid of autoinducer controlled ge

Hypertension is identified as one of the most significant risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). There is growing evidence showing that oxidative stress plays a major role in hypertension. Increased production of reactive oxygen species and decrease bioavailability of antioxidant have been demonstrated in experimental and human hypertension. The present study was directed to determine the beneficial effect of the antioxidant vitamin C in patients with essential hypertension treated with the calcium channel blocker (amlodipine) or with the angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (enalapril). Ninety six patients (50 females and 46 males) with essential hyp

Toxoplasmosis is regarded as one of the most important global life-threatening diseases in immune-compromised people. The intracellular protozoon Toxoplasma gondii is the causative pathogen of toxoplasmosis. Aim of this study is to investigate the possible association between T. gondii infection and breast cancer (BC) in Iraqi women, also to assess the effect of T. gondiion interleukin 10 (IL-10) of the immune response. By ELISA method, blood samples from 81 women with breast cancer and 60 apparently healthy women have been examined for presence of anti-toxoplasmaantibodies, also the levels of serum IL-10 were estimated in these subjects. Results showed that women with BC had the highest prevalence rate of toxoplasmosis. The anti- T.gondii