Elevated Interleukin-13 (IL-13) may play an important role in the pathophysiology of COVID-19, yet, the attenuated response did not notice across all severe cases. Susceptibility to asthma in specific populations is associated with several SNPs of multifunctional cytokines, such as IL-13, IL-31 and IL-33. This prospective case-control study is designed to investigate the extent of genetic susceptibility in subsets of Iraqi patients with COVID-19 by targeting the variants of interleukin IL-13rs20541 polymorphism in relation to disease susceptibility and severity of clinical presentation. One hundred samples were obtained from the throat, nasopharyngeal and nasal swabs enrolled in this study. Eighty samples of the throat, nasopharyngeal and nasal localization swabs were obtained from patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) (both COVID-19 and non-COVID19 patients), while other 20 nasopharyngeal swabs were included as a healthy control group (AHC). Detection of IL-13rs20541 polymorphism was done by ARMS technique. The frequencies of GG- genotype in ARDS- patients with COVID-19, non-COVID19-, and AHC groups were respectively 14%, 12% and 3%, where, and as compared to the control group, showed a significant increase in COVID-19 patients. The AA- genotype in patients with COVID-19 group, non- COVID-19 group and healthy control group documented the frequency of 9%, 7%, and 14%, respectively, where the frequency decreased in the patient's groups as compared to the AHC group. Finally, and among the studied groups, an increase of AG- genotype (as rate OR=1.89) was documented compared to genotype GG and A-. Genetic polymorphisms in the IL-13rs20541 gene might influence its functions in patients with SARS-associated respiratory tract infection and thus might involve the pathogenicity of patients with COVID-19.
Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by impairments in social interaction and communication, restricted patterns of behavior, and unusual sensory sensitivities. Saliva may provide an easily accessible sample for analysis. Some salivary constituents levels altered in adolescents with ASD including antioxidants . This study aimed to investigate salivary physicochemical characteristic in relation to oral health status among adolescent with ASD. Materials and methods: Two groups were included in this study: forty institutionalized autistic adolescents and forty apparently healthy school adolescents with age range (12-15 years old, only males) selected randomly from Baghdad. Each group subdivided into two groups according
... Show MoreBackground: The socioeconomic is important factor that effect in the severity and prevalence of most predominant and wide spread oral disease named dental caries, since this oral disease effects children, adolescents, adults and elderly peoples especially in developing countries as in Iraq.This survey was aimed to investigate the prevalence and severity of dental caries in relation to socioeconomic status. Materials and Methods: This oral health survey was conducted among primary and secondary school students aged 12 years old in Dewanyiah governorate in Iraq. The total sample composed of 804 (401 boys and 403 girls) selected randomly from different schools in Dewanyiah governorate. Diagnosis and recording of dental caries was assessed ac
... Show MoreOwing to high antibacterial resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, it could be considered as the main reason behind the nosocomial infections. P. aeruginosa has a well-known biofilm forming ability. The expression of polysaccharide encoding locus (pelA gene) by P. aeruginosa is essential for this ability. The purpose of the current research was to determine the biofilm formation in P. aeruginosa isolated from clinical samples and to evaluate the role of the selected PelA gene in biofilm formation using PCR method in Iraqi patients. Results revealed that 24 (96%) isolates were found to have the ability to form biofilm that was remarkably related to gentamicin resistance. Moreover, the pelA gene was found in all biofilm-producers. In c
... Show MoreObjective: To assess nurses' exposure to hospitals chronic diseases hazards in Thi-Qar governorate, and to identify the association between nurses' socio-demographic characteristics of age, sex, marital status, place of work, the experience and educational attainment and their exposure to the hazards of chronic diseases. Methodology: A purposive "non-probability" sample of (433) nurses who were selected from four public hospitals in Thi-qar governorate for the period from November 4th 2013 to June 8th of 2014. Results: The study results indicated that that the vast majority of participants have mild chronic di
The current paper was designed to find the possible synergic effect of EBV infection with the HPV-16 in Iraqi women suffering from cervical carcinoma. This retrospective study involved paraffinized blocks of two groups. The research included 30 carcinomatous cervical tissues and 15 samples from normal cervical biopsies. After sectioning using positively charged slides, immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed to detect anti-Epstein Barr Virus LMP1 and Human papillomavirus type 16 primary antibodies. Sixty-three percentage (19 out of 30) of the studies group showed positive overexpression as shown in with a significant association of the expression with cervical cancer with a significant association (p = 0). The co-infection of the EBV and H
... Show MoreBackground: Immune thrombocytopenia is an immune-related disorder that causes an impairment in platelet production and stimulates platelet destruction, causing variable bleeding symptoms. Objective: This study focuses on refractory immune thrombocytopenic purpura patients on romiplostim treatment and their level of illness perception related to treatment response. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted from May 1st, 2025, to August 1st, 2025. Brief Illness Perception Questionnaires were administered to 84 patients with ITP to collect the data. The study took place at the Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplant Center, Medical City, Baghdad, Iraq. Results: The romiplostim response rate is 21 (25.0%), while the partial response rate is 4
... Show MoreThe objective review is to inspect the involvement of Interleukin-6 (IL-6) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to highlight the role of IL-6 and its variants in the pathogenesis of RA and response to anti-IL-6 agents. Several genetic and environmental risk factors and infectious agents contributed to the development of RA. Interleukin-6 is engaged in self-targeted immunity by modifying the equilibrium between T regulatory (T-reg) and T helper-17 (Th-17) cells. The evidences reported that IL-6 parti
Background: Smoking is the major environmental risk factor that has been associated with the pathogenesis and progression of periodontal diseases. Interleukin-8 (IL-8), has been associated with the immunopathology of periodontitis. Objectives: To determine the influence of smoking on salivary Interleukin-8 level from smokers and non-smokers with periodontitis and periodontally healthy control subjects.
Materials and Methods: Un-stimulated saliva samples were collected of 90 participants: 30 smokers and 30 non-smokers with chronic periodontitis, as well as 30 periodontally healthy control subjects. The clinical parameters such as the pocket depth, clinical attachment loss, plaque index, and gingiv
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