Objectives: Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) is WNT/b-catenin pathway antagonist which plays a detrimental role in the development of diabetic retinopathy (DR). This research aimed to assess serum DKK-1 levels in diabetic patients who have and have not developed DR and, compare them with the control subjects finding out whether we can use it as an indicator for DR early diagnosis and to find out which one of the widely used two groups of antidiabetic treatments had the greater effect on this biomarker and hence on the progression of DR. Methods: The study participants were divided into two subgroups: First, 70 patients (36 male, 34 female) with type 2 diabetes mellitus, among them 35 patients diagnosed with DR and 35 with no evidence of DR, and secondly, non-diabetic controls (11 male, 9 female) were selected from the patients attending Ibn AL-Haitham hospital for ophthalmology and a specialized center for endocrinology and diabetes. Venous blood samples of all participants were drawn after an overnight fast, and serum samples were stored at -20ºC until DKK-1 assay. Results: Serum DKK-1 showed significantly lower levels in diabetic patients with (6.1 ± 2 ng/mL) or without DR (14 ± 6.2 ng/mL) when compared to those of controls (34 ± 12.25 ng/mL) (p 0.05). Furthermore, serum DKK-1 levels were lower in the late stage of DR compared to the early stage 5.6 ± 1.7 and 7 ± 1.9 ng/mL, respectively. Furthermore, DPP-4 inhibitors cause a better increment in DKK-1 levels when compared to SU in the NDR group. Conclusions: Reduced serum levels of DKK-1 are related to the existence and worsening of DR and have the prospect to serve as an indicator for this condition.
Schiff base (methyl 6-(2- (4-hydroxyphenyl) -2- (1-phenyl ethyl ideneamino) acetamido) -3, 3-dimethyl-7-oxo-4-thia-1-azabicyclo[3.2.0] heptane-2-carboxylate)Co(II), Ni(II), Cu (II), Zn (II), and Hg(II)] ions were employed to make certain complexes. Metal analysis M percent, elemental chemical analysis (C.H.N.S), and other standard physico-chemical methods were used. Magnetic susceptibility, conductometric measurements, FT-IR and UV-visible Spectra were used to identified. Theoretical treatment of the generated complexes in the gas phase was performed using the (hyperchem-8.07) program for molecular mechanics and semi-empirical computations. The (PM3) approach was used to determine the heat of formation (ΔH˚f), binding energy (ΔEb), an
... Show MoreSchiff base (methyl 6-(2- (4-hydroxyphenyl) -2- (1-phenyl ethyl ideneamino) acetamido) -3, 3-dimethyl-7-oxo-4-thia-1-azabicyclo[3.2.0] heptane-2-carboxylate)Co(II), Ni(II), Cu (II), Zn (II), and Hg(II)] ions were employed to make certain complexes. Metal analysis M percent, elemental chemical analysis (C.H.N.S), and other standard physico-chemical methods were used. Magnetic susceptibility, conductometric measurements, FT-IR and UV-visible Spectra were used to identified. Theoretical treatment of the generated complexes in the gas phase was performed using the (hyperchem-8.07) program for molecular mechanics and semi-empirical computations. The (PM3) approach was used to determine the heat of formation (ΔH˚f), binding energy (ΔEb
... Show MoreBackground: the activity of acute lymphoblastic leukemia had been observed to correlate with levels of serum lipoproteins
Objective: to evaluate the correlation of serum levels of different types of lipoproteins with activity of the disease in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Type of the study: A prospective study.
Methods: A study included patients diagnosed as acute lymphoblastic leukemia, their serum levels of lipoproteins at time of diagnosis, and on relapse were obtained for comparison.
Results: there is significant inverse correlation of activity of acute lymphoblastic leukemia with serum total cholesterol
... Show MoreThe present study aimed to determine the serum sex hormone levels among Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) patients before and after 3 months of oral administration of 5-α reductase inhibitor(finasteride). Forty BPH patients and 40 healthy men from Amara city were involved in this study, their ages were between 40-59 year. They were all subjected to direct estimation of hormones by MinVidas method including Testosterone (T), Estradiol (E2), Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH), Luteinizing Hormone (LH), Prolactin (PRL), and Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) before and after 3 months of treatment with 5α-reductase inhibitor (finasteride) (the healthy individuals didn’t take finasteride).The results showed that T level was significantly lo
... Show MorePrevious studies in Euro-American countries have shown that patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection have increased levels of neuropsychiatric symptoms. While chronic hepatitis C virus infection has been reported in Arab countries such as Iraq, there is little studies about the neuropsychological burden associated with chronic hepatitis C among patients in the Arab region. The aim of the current study was to measure the prevalence and level of severity of depression, anxiety and stress among a sample of chronic hepatitis C patients in AL-Najaf province /Iraq. The current study was cross-sectional study carried out on (110) already diagnosed chronic viral hepatitis C patients who attended the Gastroenterology and Hepatology
... Show MoreBACKGROUND: Nebulized Salbutamol have great advantages for patients with respiratory problems by depositing drugs directly to the lungs, inspite of reported adverse metabolic effects on different electrolytes and glucose heamostasis of patients.AIM OF STUDY: To evaluate the effect of nebulized salbutamol used in the management of patients with asthma who have normal serum potassium and blood glucose levels. in the emergency department after 30 and 60 minutes of administration and to find out if these results are of clinical importance that should be taken in consideration when treating patients especially those with abnormal glucose hemostasis or electrolyte disturbance. PATIENTS & METHODS: The study is a prospective follow
... Show MoreAutism Spectrum Disorder, also known as ASD, is a neurodevelopmental disease that impairs speech, social interaction, and behavior. Machine learning is a field of artificial intelligence that focuses on creating algorithms that can learn patterns and make ASD classification based on input data. The results of using machine learning algorithms to categorize ASD have been inconsistent. More research is needed to improve the accuracy of the classification of ASD. To address this, deep learning such as 1D CNN has been proposed as an alternative for the classification of ASD detection. The proposed techniques are evaluated on publicly available three different ASD datasets (children, Adults, and adolescents). Results strongly suggest that 1D
... Show MoreThis study aimed at identifying the extent to which the social worker used the techniques of group discussion in the professional practice with the groups of school activity in the schools of Tubas governorate in light of some variables (gender, years of experience, academic qualification). The analytical descriptive method was used due to its suitability for the objectives of the study. A questionnaire was designed to collect data that included (30) items, distributed in three areas .The validity and reliability of the tool were verified and then distributed to the study sample.
The results of the study showed that the highest averages were in the discussion stage domain, where the pre-discussion stage was m
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