Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with polymorphic expression. B cells have an essential contribution in immune system activation via the production of different cytokines and functioning as potent antigen-presenting cells. Therefore, a drug that particularly targets B cells may represent an ideal therapeutic approach for SLE. Rituximab (RTX), an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody causing transient B-cell depletion, has been used to manage SLE. This study aims to assess Rituximab effects on lupus nephritis (LN) patients when added to conventional immunosuppressants. Twenty four patients, 15-32 years old, with class III/IV/V LN were involved in this study. All were on steroids before lupus nephritis occurrence. They were given rituximab induction therapy and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) maintenance therapy. RTX was indicated for refractory and relapsing SLE. Several investigations done before and after RTX treatment and in the last follow up (done one year after starting Rituximab). Those included protein in urine, serum creatinine, double stranded DNA, C3, C4, and Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR). Proteinuria decreased significantly after RTX treatment and in the last measurement (P=0.01 and P=0.001, respectively). Serum creatinine significantly decreased only in the last measurement (P=0.02). Double stranded DNA decreased remarkably after treatment (P=0.01) with a further decrease in the last measurement (P=0.006). C3 and C4 increased after treatment but the increase was significant only for C3 (P=0.002) and this increase continues till the last measurement (P=0.0006). Active urine sediments found in fifteen patients and disappeared after RTX treatment. Rituximab can be promising in treating lupus nephritis when used along with traditional immunosuppressants. It can reduce disease activity and improve renal function in such patients.
Propranolol is a nonselective-adrenergic blocker used in the treatment of hypertension, cardiac arrhythmias, and angina pectoris. A significant problem in propranolol therapy is that it undergoes extensive presystemic metabolism after oral administration leading to reduced bioavailability. In this study, two new propranolol derivatives have been designed, synthesized and characterized. These compounds were formed by acylation of propranolol followed by nucleophilic substitution reaction of acylated propranolol, these derivatives were analyzed for IR, CHN, melting points, and evaluated for their lipophilic properties compared with propranolol. The lower partition coefficient of these two derivatives revealed that the prodrug approach may be
... Show MoreIn this research, two drugs were bonded through amide and ester attachment, using lactic acid as aspacer binder, produced di pro drug such as Procain and Ciprofloxacin. Since Procain has ailocail anesthetic action and Ciprofloxacin as antibacterial drug was reacted with lactic acid produced ester compound (1), then the carboxylic acid of lactic acid could reacted with free Procain oil produced amide attachment, the controlled drug release in different pH values at 37C˚was studied to improve their characteristic and to minimize the side effect of the drug could be used in broad spectrum activity as atherapeutic material.This mutual prodrug was used with another biological active drug instead of single action. The prepared prodrug was charac
... Show MoreMass transfer was studied using a rotating cylinder electrode with different lengths of legs acting as turbulence promoters. Two types of rotating cylinder ,made of brass, were examined : an enhanced cylinder one, with four rectangular extensions 10 mm long, 10 mm wide, and 1mm thick, and an enhanced cylinder two with four longitudes 30 mm long,10 mm wide, and 1mm thick. The best performance was obtained for enhanced cylinder two at low rotation speeds while enhanced cylinder one was realized at high rotation speeds. The mass transfer enhancement as compared with a normal rotating cylinder electrode, devoid of promoters, is 53% or 58% higher. The enhancement percentage decreased as rotation speeds increased further, since, seemingly, ful
... Show MoreMixture experiments are response variables based on the proportions of component for this mixture. In our research we will compare the scheffʼe model with the kronecker model for the mixture experiments, especially when the experimental area is restricted.
Because of the experience of the mixture of high correlation problem and the problem of multicollinearity between the explanatory variables, which has an effect on the calculation of the Fisher information matrix of the regression model.
to estimate the parameters of the mixture model, we used the (generalized inverse ) And the Stepwise Regression procedure
... Show MoreThe culturalization of gender action occupies a wide range in culture, thoughts and modern studies as well as in fine arts and the ways of expressing them.
Theater, as one of these arts, plays roles in establishing the fundamental concepts that aims at stating the uncontrollable deed of the social community. It remains one of the most effective and suitable means to confine the uncivilized practices to overcome a certain crisis after gender and cyborg in societies.
The research concentrates on studying the culturalization of gender action in the Iraqi theatrical address because of the effect it has on the modernizing thought in arts and theater literature. It consists of chapter one which deals w
... Show MoreDiabetes is a complex set of diseases require continuous medical care, to control blood sugar and prevent complications is .The aim of this research is to determine the effect of administration of L carentin to diabetics on the lipid profile. The research was conducted on sixty diabetic patients were selected from endocrinology and diabetes center / Al-Rusafa, within selected criteria. The patients divided into 3 groups (control group of healthy people and two groups of patients with diabetes who were on metformin and glibenclamide, one group took a L carnitine in a dose of 1000 mg twice daily and a group dealing with a placebo for a period of 3 months continuously). The study found that patients who took Lc
... Show MoreThe study aims to identify the educational research obstacles as perceived by the faculty members at the universities of south in the west bank. As for study population, it included all (60) faculty-member in the colleges of education (bait lahem, alahliyah, al-khalil, and al-Quds almaftoha). To collect study data, the researcher used a questionnaire that consisted of (43) item; it has categorized into seven-domains: academic working conditions, academic management, resources and information, faculty members, publication, planning, and funding educational research. The findings revealed that Educational research obstacles were high with an average of (4, 39), no significant differences among sample averages and stander deviations on the
... Show MoreAxial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is a chronic rheumatic inflammatory disease affecting mainly the spine and sacroiliac joints. Since the copper-to-zinc ratio (Cu/Zn) indicates an inflammatory response, the change in ratio is expected to correlate with axSpA. This study compared levels of Cu/Zn in the serum of axSpA patients. Serum samples were obtained from 53 patients with axSpA divided according to biological treatment into cohorts A and B, and 28 healthy control as cohort C. Serum levels of Cu and Zn were determined first by a fully automated chemistry analyzer TC-Matrix Plus, then the ratio was obtained. The elevated serum Cu concentration means of cohort B (189.32 ± 13.808 µg/dL) compared to cohort A (168.85 ± 7.244 µg/dL) a
... Show MoreThe present study was performed to spotlight the potential role of soil bacteria in the Al-Rumaila oil field as a bioindicator of heavy metals pollution. For this purpose, nine soil samples were collected from different sites, with 20cm depth, to assess the pollution status depending on the total and available concentrations of heavy metals. The result indicates pollution of the studied soils with the following metals: Cd, Cu, Fe, Zn, and Pb. The mean of total concentration for all studied metals was higher than the allowed maximum limit based on the international limit:(3.394, 3.994, 39.993, 8844.979,150.372, and 103.347 µg/g), respectively. While measuring the total Metal concentration is important in determining the de
... Show MoreShapes have differed in terms of their temporality, tools, technical variations, aesthetic functions and dimensions. The beginnings started with manual primitive techniques that have played an a significant artistic role in the ancient civilizations, then developed with the technological development and the digital technologies that encompassed various programs and specialist means in the graphic design, so that its visual outputs in the textbook that is considered a communication means that has an effect and attracts the recipient. That is what made the researcher search and investigate this topic describing the research problem as follows: What are the shapes as alternatives to the words in the design of the textbook? The research obje
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