Background: Oocytes are susceptible to alterations in the various fatty acid contents of follicular fluid (FF), which may influence maturation and embryogenesis. Different fatty acids exert various effects on intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), which needs further studies to uncover the involved mechanisms. Objectives: To assess FF fatty acids in women undergoing ICSI and to correlate them with ICSI parameters, namely the total count of aspirated oocytes, oocyte maturation rate, fertilization rate and percentage of good-quality embryos. Methods: Fifty women undergoing ICSI were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. FF samples were collected during oocyte retrieval and were analyzed for fatty acids using gas chromatography. Fa

This study aimed to explore and separate the phytochemicals of the whole plant Conyza canadensis, a naturally growing plant in Iraq, since no phytochemical research was done previously in Iraq. The whole plant of C. canadensis was defatted by maceration in hexane for 24 hours. The defatted plant materials were extracted using Soxhlet apparatus, the aqueous ethanol 85% as a solvent extraction for 9 hours, and fractionated by petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and n-butanol. The petroleum ether, chloroform, and ethyl acetate fractions were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for their steroids, alkaloids, and polyphenolic (phenolic acids and flavonoids) contents. One alkaloid was isolated from chloroform fractio

Background: Arylesterase activity of Paraoxonase-1 (ARE-PON-1) exhibits an antioxidant role which protects lipoprotein from oxidation. It is known that ARE-PON-1 antioxidant activity associated with high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) reduces the oxidative damage mediated by low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). The present study was aimed to examine the level of serum ARE-PON1 in Iraqi patients with β-thalassemia minor and its relationship with lipid profile (total cholesterol (TC), HDL-C, very low density lipoprotein (VLDL-C), and LDL-C) and hematologic changes as a part of antioxidant system action. Methods: In the present study, the ARE-PON-1 activity was investigated in serum of patients with β-thalassemia minor. Resu

KE Sharquie, R Hayani, J Al-Rawi, A Noaimi, SH Radhy, CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL RHEUMATOLOGY, 2010

BACKGROUND. KI-67 (MKI-67 in humans) is a protein able to bind to DNA which contributes to cell growth and cell proliferation. KI-67 is currently considered as a biomarker that is widely utilized as prognostic indicator for evaluating cell proliferation, diagnosing diseases, and conducting research. Several different kinds of cancer have high Ki-67 expression, which simplifying the choice of treatment for individuals with various cancer types.AIM. The objective was to evaluate the expression of KI67 in patients suffering papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) also the association between patients age and gender and KI67 expression.MATERIALS AND METHODS. To undertake an in-

Rivers Tigris and Euphrates, as well as the wetlands in southern Iraq and the Diyala River, were all included in the evaluation of earlier studies on the variety and factors impacting fish in Iraqi waters. Different studies documented different types, and the number of species recorded varied between the studies, which could be explained by the registration of some species, synonyms, differs from the registration of some species with synonymous names By mistake, as well as recording new species in times that followed some previous studies, Also, the difference in some factors, including the pollution of some waterways, leads to a difference in the existing species, so we find the presence of species that are tolerant of pollution. There are

This study was aimed to determine bone formation markers (OST and BALP) and lysyl oxidase in diabetes and non-diabetes Iraqi acromegaly patients in addition to find the relationship among these parameters. The present study conducted 60 acromegalic patients (30 diabetes & 30 non diabetes) attending National Diabetes Center / AL-Mustansiriya University/Baghdad, and 30 healthy individuals as a control group aged (35-60) years. All patients were administrated Sandostatin drug, and they were diagnosed by physician in the hospital.FBG, GH, IGF-1, OST, BALP, and LOX were determined in all groups. The results showed a highly significant rise in all parameters (GH, IGF-1, FBG, OST, BALP, and LOX values in serum of all patients when compared with n

Renal function tests are commonly used in clinical practice to look for renal disease, the most common includes the serum urea, uric acid and creatinine. Heart failure patients have a higher incidence of renal function test abnormalities than individuals who do not have heart failure disease. Fifty subjects of adults (male) were divided in to two groups, 25 subjects (healthy) as control (group1) and 25 subjects with heart failure (group 2). Our results indicate that serum uric acid, urea, and creatinine values were significantly elevated (P≤0.05) in patients group (2) compared with healthy group (1). The results also showed, the effect of age categories on uric acid blood urea nitrogen and creatinine values (P≤0.05) and there were no si

ABSTRACT : Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most common inflammatory neurodegenerative diseases linked with dementia, it is characterized by the deposition of amyloid beta-peptide (Ab) in the brain. The present study aims to innovate a biochemical relationship between AD and interleukin 38 (IL-38) as an anti-inflammatory cytokine, expose novel mechanisms and concepts regarding other biochemical parameters studied previously or recently in AD patients and also examine the biochemical action of memantine (10 mg daily) on AD patients. Sixty (60) diagnosed AD patients participated in the present study and classified into four (4) groups: G3 were composed of (15) newly diagnosed males (52-78) years / without treatment, G4 composed of (15

This study was established to investigate the correlation between the expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-1) and the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis (OA). Blood samples were collected from 55 female patients with inflammatory OA and controls for estimation of serum (MMP-1) levels. In the current study, there is significant increase (p<0.001) in the mean of serum MMP-1 levels in osteoarthritis females (4027.73 ± 1345.28 pg/ml) than that in control females (798.76 ± 136.79 pg/ml). It was concluded that MMP-1 may be associated with the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis.