Background: The anticancer impact of Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) the highly active polyphenol of green tea was abundantly studied. Though, the exact mechanism of its cytotoxicity is still under investigation. Objectives: Hence, the current study designed to investigate the molecular target of EGCG in HepG2 cells on thirteen autophagy- and/or apoptosis- related genes. Methods: The apoptosis detection analyses such as flow cytometry and dual apoptosis assay were used. The genes expression profile was explored by the real-time quantitative-PCR. Results: EGCG increases G0/G1 cell cycle arrest and the real-time apoptosis markers proteins leading to stimulate apoptosis in 70% of the treated HepG2 cells. The up-regulation was recorded in two of autophagy inhibitory genes (FOS-1, FOS-2) and apoptosis inducer gene (DDIT3). While the other ten genes expressed down-regulation after treatment. The down regulation was manifested in the genes of mitochondrial autophagy marker proteins (BNIP3, BNIP3L, and NBR1), the autophagy regulator genes (BIRC5, MAPK9), and the gene that implicated in protein biosynthesis and protein modification (ITGB1). The genes that have pro-apoptotic function in cells (CAPNS1, CFLAR, EIF4G, and RB1) were also showed down-regulation after treatment. Conclusion: Thus, the results demonstrated a potential effect of EGCG to induce apoptosis rather than autophagy in the treated HepG2 cells that could play a good target for therapy.
Background: Occupational exposure to hazardous drugs occurs in all aspects of anticancer drug handling. Proper recommendations and guidelines should be applied to control and reduce exposure. Objective: To assess pharmacists' knowledge and practice regarding the safe handling of anticancer drugs. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at seven major hospitals in Baghdad City, Iraq, from December 2023 to February 2024. A pre-designed questionnaire was given to pharmacists who handled anticancer drugs in chemotherapy units. The questionnaire comprises sociodemographic data, knowledge of the safe handling of cytotoxic drugs and thoughts about exposure and risk, practices for safely handling cytotoxic drugs, and challenges for s
... Show MoreBeyond the immediate content of speech, the voice can provide rich information about a speaker's demographics, including age and gender. Estimating a speaker's age and gender offers a wide range of applications, spanning from voice forensic analysis to personalized advertising, healthcare monitoring, and human-computer interaction. However, pinpointing precise age remains intricate due to age ambiguity. Specifically, utterances from individuals at adjacent ages are frequently indistinguishable. Addressing this, we propose a novel, end-to-end approach that deploys Mozilla's Common Voice dataset to transform raw audio into high-quality feature representations using Wav2Vec2.0 embeddings. These are then channeled into our self-attentio
... Show MoreKinetic and mechanism studies of the oxidation of oxalic acid by Cerium sulphate have been carried out in acid medium sulphuric acid. The uv- vis. Spectrophotometric technique was used to follow up the reaction and the selected wavelength to be followed was 320 nm. The kinetic study showed that the order of reaction is first order in Ce(IV) and fractional in oxalic acid. The effect of using different concentration of sulphuric acid on the rate of the reaction has been studied a and it was found that the rate decreased with increasing the acid concentration. Classical organic tests was used to identify the product of the oxidation reaction, the product was just bubbles of CO2.
Kinetic and mechanism studies of the oxidation of oxalic acid by Cerium sulphate have been carried out in acid medium sulphuric acid. The uv- vis. Spectrophotometric technique was used to follow up the reaction and the selected wavelength to be followed was 320 nm. The kinetic study showed that the order of reaction is first order in Ce(IV) and fractional in oxalic acid. The effect of using different concentration of sulphuric acid on the rate of the reaction has been studied a and it was found that the rate decreased with increasing the acid concentration. Classical organic tests was used to identify the product of the oxidation reaction, the product was just bubbles of CO2.
A total of 96 stool samples were collected from children with bloody diarrhea from two hospitals in Baghdad. All samples were surveyed and examined for the presence of the Escherichia coli O157:H7 and differentiate it from other Non -Sorbitol Fermenting Escherichia coli (NSF E. coli). The Bacterial isolates were identifed by using morphological diagnostic methods, Samples were cultured on liquid enrichment medium, incubated at 37C? for 24 hrs, and then cultured on Cefixime Tellurite -Sorbitol MacConkey Agar (CT- SMAC). 32 non-sorbitol fermenting bacterial isolates were obtained of which 11 were identified as Escherichia coli by using traditional biochemical tests and API20E diagnostic system without differentiation between
... Show MoreAbstract Objective: The underlying molecular basis of ischemic heart diseases (IHDs) has not yet been studied among Iraqi people. This study determined the frequency and types of some cardiovascular genetic risk factors among Iraqi patients with IHDs. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study recruiting 56 patients with acute IHD during a 2-month period excluding patients >50 years and patients with documented hyperlipidemia. Their ages ranged between 18 and 50 years; males were 54 and females were only 2. Peripheral blood samples were aspirated from all patients for troponin I and DNA testing. Molecular analysis to detect 12 common cardiovascular genetic risk factors using CVD StripAssay® (ViennaLab Diagnostics GmbH, Austria) was performed
... Show MoreBACKGROUND: HLA-B27 can effect clinical presentation and course of ankylosing spondylitis. Different detection techniques of HLA-B27 are available with variable sensitivities and specificities. OBJECTIVE: To compare serologic and molecular diagnostic techniques of detecting HLA-B27 status and to correlate it with some clinical variables among ankylosing spondylitis patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 83 Iraqi patients with ankylosing spondylitis. Clinical and laboratory evaluations were reported. HLA-B27 status was determined in all patients by real-time PCR using HLA-B27 RealFast™ kit; ELISA method was used as well to detect soluble serum HLA-B27 antigens using Human Leukocyte Antigen® kit. RESULTS:
... Show MoreMechanical degradation hampers the practical usage of polymers for turbulent drag reduction
application. Mechanical degradation refers to the chemical process in which the activation energy of
polymer chain scission is exceeded by mechanical action on the polymer chain, and bond rupture
occurs. When a water-soluble polymer and surfactant are mixed in water solution, the specific structures
(aggregates) are formed, in which polymer film is formed around micelle. In this work, Xanthan gum (XG) –
Sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SELS) complex formation and its effect on percentage viscosity reduction
(%VR) was studied. It was found that SELS surfactant reduced the mechanical degradation of XG much
more efficiently than th
Crop diseases are usually caused by inoculum of pathogens which might exist on alternate hosts or weeds as endophytes. These endophytes, cum pathogens, usually confer some beneficial attributes to these weeds or alternate hosts from protection against herbivores, disease resistance, stress tolerance to secondary metabolites production. This study was therefore carried out to isolate potential crop pathogens which exist as endophytes on weed species in the University of Ilorin plantations. Green asymptomatic leaves were collected from 10 weed species across the plantations, and processed for their endophytic fungi isolation. Isolates were purified into pure cultures and used for molecular identification using the internal transcribed spac
... Show MoreAlot of medical and industrial applications used the metal nanoparticles (NPs) with increase interest to be used as cancer therapy. The current work aimed to prepare AuNPs and AgNPs through the use of plasma jet and test their antitumor mechanism of apoptosis induction. The results indicating the face-centered cubic structures and crystalline nature of AuNPs and AgNPs. Also, the image of FESEM showed that the well dispersions regarding AuNPs and AgNPs, while the NP’s spherical shape with the particle size distributions which are considered to be close that estimated from the XRD. cytotoxicity have been assessed against the Normal embryonic cell line REF and the digestive system (HC , SK-GT-4) cell lines under a variety of the seri
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