4 Blood Res 2018;53:314-319. Received on August 11, 2018 Revised on August 30, 2018 Accepted on August 30, 2018 Background Iron overload is a risk factor affecting all patients with thalassemia intermedia (TI). We aimed to determine whether there is a relationship of serum ferritin (SF) and alanine ami- notransferase (ALT) with liver iron concentration (LIC) determined by R2 magnetic reso- nance imaging (R2-MRI), to estimate the most relevant degree of iron overload and best time to chelate in patients with TI. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 119 patients with TI (mean age years) were randomly se- lected and compared with 120 patients who had a diagnosis of thalassemia major (TM). Correlations of LIC, as determined by R2-MRI, with SF

Systemic lupus Erythematosus is an autoimmune disease of unknown aetiology affecting multiple organ system. Reactive nitrogen and oxygen species are claimed to play a role in this disease. However, the potential of Nitrosative/Oxidative Stress to elicit an autoimmune, response remain till now largely unexplored in humans. This study was done to investigate the status and contribution of nitrosative/oxidative stress in Iraqi patients for systemic lupus erythematosus. Blood samples from 19 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and 19 age-and sex- matched apparently healthy controls were evaluated for serum levels of nitrosative/oxidative stress markers including nitric oxide, peroxynitrite and malondialdehyde. Nitric oxide levels were

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is one of the significant public health problems that is characterized by structural and functional changes due to various causes. Periodontal disease has risen as a nontraditional risk factor for CKD since it is considered a source of inflammatory products in systemic disease.

Objective: The objective of the study was to investigate the association between serum and salivary levels of neutrophil gelatinase‐associated lipocalin (NGAL) and the periodontal health status of patients with CKD.

Background: Ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic inflammatory disease that mostly involves the spine and sacroiliac joints. It is associated with a decreased quality of life. Biological medicines such as infliximab and its biosimilar are the mainstay treatments for active ankylosing spondylitis.

Objective: The study objective was to conduct a pharmacoeconomic study comparing the cost-effectiveness of the reference infliximab with its biosimilar in ankylosing spondylitis patients visiting public hospitals.

Subjects and Method: This is a two-center pharmacoeconomic study performed at two large teaching governmental hospitals in Baghdad, Iraq, which s

Adhesion (type 1 fimbriae) and host defense avoidance mechanisms (capsule or lipopolysaccharide) have been shown to be prevalent in Escherichia coli isolates associated with urinary tract infections. In this work, 50 uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) isolated from children with urinary tract infections were genotypically characterized by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. We used two genes; fimH and kpsMTII, both of them previously identified in uropathogenic E.coli (UPEC) isolates. The PCR assay results identified fimH (90.0)% and kpsMTII (72.0)% isolates. In the present study, was also demonstrated that these genes may be included in both or one of them within a single isolate.

The neutrophil/ lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR) have the potential to be inflammatory markers that reflect the activity of many inflammatory diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the NLR and PLR as potential markers of disease activity in patients with ankylosing spondylitis.