The plants of genus Heliotropium L. (Boraginaceae) are well-known for containing the toxic metabolites called pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) in addition to the other secondary metabolites. Its spread in the Mediterranean area northwards to central and southern Europe, Asia, South Russia, Caucasia, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and India, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and over lower Iraq, Western desert. The present study includes the preparation of various extracts from aerial parts of the Iraqi plant. Fractionation, screening the active constituent, and identification by chromatographic techniques were carried out.Heliotropium europaeum herbs were first defatted with n-hexane then extracted exhaustively by soxhlet apparatus using absolute methanol. The extract was filtered and the solvent was evaporated by applying a reduced pressure by a rotary evaporator. The residue suspended in distilled water and partitioned with chloroform, ethyl acetate, n-butanol. The hydrolysis step was done for the two fractions (n-butanol and ethyl acetate). Phytochemical analysis for the screening and identification of bioactive substances of the Heliotropium europaeum plant was done for each fraction. The identification of n-butanol and ethyl acetate fractions was carried out by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and HPLC technique. For quantitive analysis, the concentration was calculated by serial concentrations of external standard materials to build a calibration curve between concentration and its equivalent peak area. The outcomes of this study were the identifications of new six phenolic compounds from H. europaeum ethyl acetate fraction, which exhibited wide biological activity. The identified compounds were kaempferol (1), Silybin (2), caffeic acid (3), Genistein (4), Apigenin (5), in addition to syringic acid (6). In the present study, we regard the first to report such results about the phenolic compounds in H. europaeum extract. A total of six discovered phenolics were identified in this extract for the first time. Our results on H. europaeum constituents provide a scientific base to examine the pharmacological effects of this plant in the future.
Introduction: Dental fear is defined as the patient’s specific reaction towards stress related to dental treatment in which the stimulus is unkn..
Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune disorder characterized by chronic inflammation that essentially affects the small intestine and is caused by eating gluten-containing foods. This study sought to determine gene expression of NLRP3 Inflammasome in peripheral blood of Iraqi CD children using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) assay. Thirty children with CD (12 males and 18 females) were enrolled in the study and their age range was 3-15 years. The diagnosis of the disease was confirmed by serological examinations and intestinal endoscopy. A control sample of 20 age-matched healthy children was also included. The children were stratified for age, gender, body max index (BMI), histological findings, and marsh classification. Furthe
... Show MoreABSTRACTBackground: dyslipidemia plays a crucial rule in the development of cardiovascular disease, which has become the leading cause of death in most developed countries as well as in developing countries (1). The effects of reducing low density lipoprotein – C (LDL-C) concentrations on the prevention of cardiovascular events and stroke have been well reported in many clinical trials.Objectives: Evidence supports the use of statins for lipid modifications in the primary prevention of coronary artery disease, morbidity and mortality. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of atorvastatin in treating dyslipidemia in Iraqi obese patients.Methods: 200 overweight and obese patients with hypercholesterolemia, according to NCEP ATP
... Show MoreFifty one patients with serologically confirmed brucellosis and 70 healthy controls were phenotyped for HLA-A, -B, -DR and -DQ antigens by using standard microlympho-cytotoxicity method, and lymphocytes defined by their CD markers (CD3, CD4, CD8 and CD19). The results revealed a significant (Pc = 0.001) increased frequency of HLA-DR8 (41.18 vs. 10.0%) in the patients . A significant increased percentage of CD8+ lymphocytes was also increased in the patients (25.15 vs. 22.0%; P = 0.006), while CD3+ lymphocytes were significantly decreased (75.1 vs. 79.4%; P = 0.02).
Background: Tubal ligation, recognized as a surgical intervention that ensures permanent contraception, has established itself as an option for women seeking a definitive solution for family planning. Objective: To assess the psychosexual implications of tubal ligation in a sample of women in Baghdad, Iraq. Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted in a teaching hospital for 2 years, from the first of January 2022 to the end of December 2023, in which 203 women who underwent tubal ligation were included. Results: In the present study, we found that 158 (77.8%) had no depression, mild depression presented in 27 (13.3%), and moderate depression in only 15 (7.4%). While 163 (80.3%) of women did not suffer from anxiety, 32 (15.8
... Show MoreThe survey was carried out From January to April of 2018 on macrofungi samples collected from different places in Halabja province located in north eastern parts of Iraq-Kurdistan region. This region is rich in forest trees and pasture lands with diversity of shrubs and herbs and is expected to support the growth of several macro fungal species. However, this part of Kurdistan in Iraq is still unexplored from macrofungal point of view. In this paper three species from Pezizaceae and Pyronemataceae families that belonging to (Pezizales, Ascomycota), were reported from Iraqi Kurdistan. These macrofungal species are recorded for the first time from Iraq. Also the species were identified and showing their locations distributed on a map prepared
... Show MoreFreshwater mussels are a guild of stationary, suspended-feeding species; they perform significant ecological functions like nitrogen cycling, bioturbation that gives oxygen and habitat that other creatures need to survive, and increasing water clearance by filtration. Knowledge of the freshwater mussel Unio tigridis Bourguignat, 1852, distribution, and molecular study in Iraq was inadequate. In the current study, this species of freshwater Mussels belonging to the family Unionidae was collected from different locations in the Greater Zab River, from April 2022 to November 2022. The average water temperature of the site was arranged between (17.8 to 36.1 C°). All previous studies in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq were based on morphologic
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