Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease associated with decreased antioxidant state .This study aim to investigate the status of oxidant/antioxidant in a sample of  Iraqi patients with RA and the role of peroxynitrite and its natural scavenger uric acid in them .This case-controlled study was conducted at Baghdad teaching hospital /Baghdad from December 2010-May 2011 . Twenty-five patients with mean age 39 years and 25 apparently healthy subject as controls with mean age 29 years were included in the study .Investigations include estimation of serum levels of nitric oxide (NO)  ,peroxynitrite (PN) , malondialdehyde (MDA)  , and uric acid (UA) .Serum PN levels were significantly elevated in RA patients a

The dangerous and potentially blinding condition known as Acanthamoeba keratitis is caused by free-living amoebae of the genus Acanthamoeba. The prevalence of AIDS patients and contact lens wearers has increased in recent years, making cannaeba infections more significant. It's interesting to note that, depending on the parasite, host, and environmental conditions, the pathways linked to Acanthamoeba pathogenesis are frequently extremely complex. Notwithstanding our progress in antibiotic therapy and supportive care, the prevalence of Acanthamoeba keratitis has not decreased

داء السكري من النوع 2 (T2DM) هو مرض معقد يصيب العديد من الأعضاء إلى جانب البنكرياس مثل الكلى والكبد والدماغ والعين. بسبب ارتفاع السكر في الدم لفترات طويلة وعدم السيطرة على مرض السكري مع وجود عوامل خطر أخرى ، يمكن أن تحدث مضاعفات مرض السكري. تشمل مضاعفات مرض السكري مضاعفات الأوعية الدموية الدقيقة والأوعية الدموية الكبيرة التي تستهدف الكلى. تهدف الدراسة الحالية إلى التحقق من مستوى الانجوتينسن المحول للانزيم  A

Background: Assessment of function of the right side of the heart in cases of left ventricular dysfunction has been widely studied but the sensitive and specific echocardiographic parameter to be tested is still a matter of controversy. Right ventricular function is related to left ventricular function by ventricular independence so function of both should be assessed carefully. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of left ventricular systolic dysfunction on right ventricular systolic and diastolic functions and pulmonary pressure using conventional and tissue Doppler echocardiography. Patients and Methods: Sixty patients (39 males and 21 females) with heart failure due to left ventricular systolic dysfunction

Background: Despite extensive efforts towards its elimination, Hepatitis B virus (HBV) continues to be a major concern, posing risk of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in those infected. Therefore, there is a need for reliable biomarkers to accurately assess the infection. While liver enzymes remain the standard diagnostic tools, the anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor interleukin-37 (IL-37) has emerged as a potential biomarker. Aims: To assess the relationship between serum IL-37 and liver enzymes in HBV patients. Methods: Liver enzymes were measured by Fujifilm’s dry chemistry system (Fuji Dri-Chem), whereas Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) was utilized for determination of IL-37 levels. A total of 100 patients

BACKGROUND: The rapidly growing knowledge regarding factors controlling tumour growth, with the new modalities of therapy acting on the biological activity of the tumours draw the attention of most cancer researches nowadays and represent a major focus for clinical oncology practice. For the detection of HER2/neu protein overexpression and gene amplification, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and in-situ hybridisation (ISH) is the recommended techniques, respectively, with high concordance between the two techniques. The current United Kingdom recommendations for HER2/neu testing are either for a two-tier system using IHC with reflex ISH testing in equivocal positive cases, or a one-tier ISH strategy. AIM: To compare the results of HER2/neu gene s

This study tries to clear the correlation and association between asthma, obesity and leptin levels. Also it will work to indicate the main risk factors which play role in the elevation of leptin level within asthmatic patients.  This is a case control study conducted on (38) asthmatic patients and (20) healthy control who were closely similar by age, gender and BMI. The main statistical tests used were student t test, linear regression test and correlation test. Significance was set at P < 0.05. Sampling method used for this study was convenience sampling method.  The main results of this study show a significant association and positive correlation between age (old age  â‰¥ 40 ye

Purpose: To evaluate the usefulness of serum cyclin D1, CDK4, and CDK6 as biomarkers of treatment response and progression-free survival (PFS) in metastatic breast cancer (MBC). Methods: In a single-center prospective observational study, 74 women with hormone-receptor-positive (HR+)/ human epidermal growth receptor-2 (HER2)-negative metastatic breast cancer were recruited from the Oncology Hospital, Medical City in Baghdad, Iraq. The patients were treated with oral Palbociclib (125 mg) for 21 days, then continued with Letrozole (2.5 mg) for 7 days, and completed six treatment cycles. The candidates were divided into two groups based on therapeutic response: Group 1 responded to the palbociclib plus letrozole combination therapy, a

Background: pregnancy as a systemic condition causes changes in the functioning of human body as a whole and specifically in the oral cavity and it also is considered as a stressful condition. These changes may favor the increase of oxidative stress. Aim: The aim of this study was to estimate the level of marker of oxidative stress (malondialdehyde) and antioxidant (uric acid) in saliva of pregnant compared to non-pregnant women and to assess the gingival health condition in both groups. Additionally, unstimulated salivary flow rate was determined in both groups. Subjects, materials and methods: The study group consisted of sixty pregnant women, they were divided into three equal groups according to trimester (20 pregnant women for each