Chitinase-3-like 1 protein (YKL-40) is a glycoprotein primarily produced in the arthritic joint and plays a crucial role in inflammatory processes. The aim of the study is to establish the role of YKL-40 as a biomarker for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) compared to proinflammatory biomarkers and disease activity. The study included 58 patients and 18 control. Diseases activity score (DAS-28) and clinical disease activity index (CDAI) were measured. Serum level of YKL-40, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1B (IL-1β), erythrocyte sedimentation (ESR), rheumatoid factor (RF), C-reactive protein (CRP), and anti-citrullinated protein antibody (ACPA) were assessed. The results showed that the median serum YKL-40 level which was 5.42 ng/ml, the TNF-a level which was 123.6 ng/ml, and the IL-1B level which was 204.365 pg/dl were significantly higher in patients compared to control 3.28 (1.58–4.99) ng/ml, 56.47 (9.38–77.01) ng/ml and 67.887 (15.493–122.689)pg/dl respectively. There was no correlation between serum YKL-40 and disease activity, while there were significant associations observed with TNF-α (r=0.5,p =0.0001) and IL-1β (r=0.41, p=0.001). YKL-40 indicating good levels of RA prediction at 2.47 ng/ml, sensitivity 87.9%, specificity 58.6%, accuracy 78.1%, PPV 80.9%, and NPV 70.8%. In conclusion, a higher level of serum YKL-40 is found in RA patients. The findings from our study suggest a strong association between YKL-40 and the proinflammatory biomarkers. As a result, these biomarkers together might play a role in RA pathogenesis, and YKL-40 may be used as a potential diagnostic biomarker for RA.
Abstract Background: Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) is an angioproliferative neoplastic disorder that occurs in different epidemiological forms. Human Herpesvirus type 8 (HHV-8) is established as a causative agent of KS that has been mentioned in textbooks and literature. In the last two decades, KS cases were up searched through many Iraqi medical researches which have been published, but unfortunately, none of which had confirmed this association. Objectives: To assess the association of latent nuclear antigen-1(LANA-1) of HHV-8 among KS patients with clinicopathological parameters and to evaluate if this procedure is valuable for diagnosing this disease through the first immunohistochemical study in Iraq. Methods: This is a clinico-immunohis
... Show MoreObjective: Atorvastatin therapy is now recommended for reduction of cardiovascular risk in type 2 diabetic patients (T2DM), based on convincing evidence of reductions in mortality and vascular events in major clinical outcome trials. The aim is to evaluate the effects of atorvastatin on proinflammatory markers (TNF-α, IL-6), HbA1c andleptin in obese patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods: Sixty fivenewly diagnosed T2DM patients were randomly allocated into 2 groups; group I treated with metformin only; in group II atorvastatin was added with metformin. Twenty healthy subjects were enrolled as control group. While maintaining their usual eating habits, fasting blood samples were collected at baseline and after 12 weeks of treatment. Results
... Show Morethis study deals with effect of diabetes and hypertension on quality of life
KE Sharquie, AA Al-Bayatti, AI Al-Ajeel, AJ Al-Bahar, AA Al-Nuaimy, Saudi medical journal, 2007 - Cited by 63
The presence and prevalence of V. cholerae were investigated in forty five water samples collected from different locations of Tiger River/ Baghdad city. Twenty one isolates were isolated by adopting a simple isolation techniques. The final identification revealed that only three isolates were confirmed as V. cholerae. They were named 1J, 1R and Dial 131 which are all serogrouped as non-O1. Toxin Coregulated Pili (TCP) and heat labile enterotoxin (LT) were determined in only the environmental isolate 1J while non of the isolates produced heat stabile toxin (ST). The purification scheme was improved, few steps were adopted to include back extraction of ammonium sulfate, saturation between 80-20%, desalting through Sephadex G25, and gel filt
... Show MoreThe introduction and importance of the research included that physical education and its various activities are important for the disabled. The exercise of physical activities by the disabled effectively contributes to raising their level of fitness and reducing diseases caused by lack of movement. Disabled people often suffer from psychological and social problems, and this feeling may be accompanied by a high level of anxiety, a lack of self-esteem and a loss of self-confidence. Psychological adaptation is one of the concepts of sports psychology interconnected with the psychological climate, as the process that the player seeks to meet his demands and needs. Adaptation includes the pursuit of emotional balance between the individual play
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The purpose of the research is to determine how much do the external auditors’ qualifications in Iraq match the international requirements? And determine the necessary and priority requirements that the auditor should have in order to adapt with the changes in the community and the profession. The research partially focuses on comparing international institutes curriculum requirements with the local institutes’ curriculum requirements. Furthermore, it compares examinations of local students with the questions of these institutes and compares the requirements of these institutes to continuing vocational education with the local, as well as analyzes and presents the questionnaire results to find out the necessa
... Show MoreIntroduction/Aim. Seminal fluid analysis (SFA) plays a crucial role in helping infertility clinics diagnose the underlying reason of male infertility. The aim of the study was to investigate seminal fluid patterns of male partners of an infertile couple with apparently fertile female partners. Materials and methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted between January 2019 and December 2022. Patients were attending consultations for delayed conception for more than 12 months with apparently fertile female partner. Results. Four hundred fifty-three patients were included in the study. The distribution of patients according to age groups showed that 277 patients were young, aged 21 - 30 years (61%). Two hundred sixty-two (58%) patien
... Show MoreThis work, in fact, is an English language teaching study (henceforth, ELT) which may provide the inspiration for much –needed research on issues such as testing students' level of achievement in articulatory phonetics at the university level. It attempts to answer two questions: 1)What is college students' level of achievement in articulatory phonetics? 2- Are there any statistical significant differences in the achievement of college students in articulatory phonetics between the production and recognition testing techniques? This research falls into three sections: Section one indicates the problem, the aims, the hypotheses, the procedures, the limits and the value of the study. Section two provides a general overview of the articul
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