Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic and systemic autoimmune disease that is characterized by severe synovial inflammation, cartilage erosion, bone loss, and generalized vasculopathy. Although the immunologic mechanism of RA is still unclear, it is now thought to be a primarily Th17-driven disease. Along with other factors, IL-23 stimulates the expansion of Th17 cells from naive CD4+ T cells.

Objective: The objective of this study is to assess the circulating levels of interleukin (IL)-23 in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and determine the correlation between plasma/serum IL-23 levels and disease activity. So, we performed a systematic review with meta-analysis comparing

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:Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) problems refer to a group of heterogeneous pain and dysfunction conditions involving the mastication, reducing life quality of the patients. Arthrocentesis is a simple and less invasive surgical method for the treatment of inflammatory-degenerative disease than other conservative procedures and better than arthroscope. This clinical study aimed at evaluating the benefit of arthrocentesis with injection of hyaluronic acid in the management of inflammatory-degenerative disease of the TMJ. Material and methods: Eighty consecutive patients were enrolled in this study with pain symptoms of TMJ, insufficient masticatory efficiency during function and limitation of mouth opening; they were assessed with

The antiphytopathogenic effects of the crude methanol extract of Cladophora glomerata (Lin.) Kützing (Cladophoraceae) which isolated from Al Rashidiya region at north of Baghdad was investigated against two type of plant fungi (Pythium altimum and Rhizoctonia solani) which causes damping off disease where isolated from covered cucumber field in Al-Alyosifia region. Hot methanol extract showed antifungal activity against the two species of fungi in different concentrations(10,25,50 mg/ml) of extract to Cladophora glomerata as percentage inhibition (51.63 ,72.8 ,83.71) and (56.18 ,77.41 ,100)comparing with Pythium altimum and Rhizoctonia solani respectively .primary detection of active compounds showed that macroalgae (Cladoph

This study was designed to evaluate the effect of major surgery on thyroid hormones and thyrotropin in patient undergoing major lower abdominal surgery. The study included fifty patients scheduled for elective major lower abdominal surgery, the serum levels of T3, T4 and TSH were determined one day preoperatively, intraoperative, one day postoperatively, two days postoperatively, and rT3 was determined one day preoperatively, and one day postoperatively. We observed that the levels of (T3, T4, TSH) increased significantly (P<0.05) intraoperatively, one day postoperatively the levels of T3 and T4 reduced significantly (P<0.05), while TSH reduced not significantly (P>0.05), and two days postoperatively T4 and TSH returned to increase si

The performance of the pavement in terms of vehicle safety and tire wear is affected by the friction behavior of the pavement. To highlight the main characteristics that affect the production of better friction resistance of the pavement surface in this work. The micro-texture and macro-texture of the asphalt surface of Baghdad Airport highway were studied using two methods: (sand patch method and the British pendulum test). The sand patch was examined by drawing sand grains of a specific volume, while the micro-texture was analyzed using a BPT under dry and wet surface conditions. All data obtained from the two examinations were analyzed and modelled statistically using SPSS 25 software. Results show that skid resistance of pavemen

The study conducted to investigate the association between Helicobacter pylori infection and eye diseases (Glaucoma, Cataract, CSR and Uveitis). One hundred and four patients with multiple eye disorders (10-80) years were observed from 10/9/2020 to 18/11/2020 and compared to thirty-one healthy people (19 female and 12 male). Each participant was tested for H. pylori CagAAbs and TNF-α using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The results have shown that there was a non-significant difference (p≥0.05) in the concentration of CagAantibodies in sera of patients with eye diseases except in the case of CSR (central serous chorioretinopathy), which was a significant difference (P≤0.05) compared to the control group. Also, the result

Background BK polyomavirus is one of the common post-transplant viral infections, affecting ∼15% of renal transplantation recipients (RTR), leading to graft loss in more than half of cases. Objectives Study the rate of detection of BK virus (BKV) in RTRs in Pap-stained urine cytology specimens. Methods A single center study, urine samples were collected from 99 RTR patients, with 15 Living Donors (LD) and 15 patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) were taken as controls. And urine cytology smears were Pap stained for detection of decoy cells (DCs). Results Out of the 99 RTRs, 27 (27.3%) patients were decoy positive, 8 out of these 27 patients had uncommon DCs, and 5 out of these 27 cytology positive patients (18.5%) had biopsy proven B