Introduction and Aim: The pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-39, a member of the IL-12 family plays a key role in the inflammatory response by modulating immune cell activity and inflammation. A literature search shows no study undertaken for the effect of IL-39's on arthritis so far. Hence, the purpose of this study was to investigate the role of IL-39 in rheumatoid arthritis. Materials and Methods: This study involved 80 patients with rheumatoid arthritis registered at the Rheumatology Clinic at Baghdad teaching hospital. The patients were divided into three groups based on treatments received. Group 1 included patients who were not on any treatment for arthritis, Group 2 with patients on hydroxychloroquine and or prednisone treatment, and Group 3 that received Enbrel® (etanercept) and HUMIRA® (adalimumab) treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. A control group was included in the study. Patients in all groups were assessed for their serum IL-39 concentration, C - reactive protein, Anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (ACCP) and ESR. Results: The patient age and BMI were not significantly different between the groups receiving treatment for Rheumatoid arthritis. A significant increase in the interleukin 39 concentration was observed in treatment groups (G1, G2, G3) as compared to normal healthy controls regardless of whether they were positive or negative for the anti-CCP test. Conclusion: This study showed that the serum interleukin IL-39 levels significantly increased in patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis thus suggesting that IL-39 could be considered as a potential inflammatory biomarker of RA.
Background:
Multiple sclerosis is a chronic disease believed to be the result of autoimmune disorders of the central nervous system, characterised by inflammation, demyelination, and axonal transection, affecting primarily young adults. Disease modifying therapies have become widely used, and the rapid development of these drugs highlighted the need to update our knowledge on their short- and long-term safety profile.
Objective:
The study aim is to evaluate the impact of disease-modifying treatments on thyroid functions and thyroid autoantibodies with subsequent effects on the outcome of the disease.
Materials and Methods:
A retro prospective study
... Show MoreThe concerns about water contaminants affect most developing countries bypassing rivers over them. The issue is challenging to introduce water quality within the allowed limits for drinking, industrial and agricultural purposes. In the present study, physical-chemical parameters measurements of water samples taken from eleven stations were collected during six months in 2020 through flow path along the whole length of Tigris River inside AL Kut city (center of Wassit government) were investigated for six parameters are total hardness TH, hydrogen ion pH, biological oxygen demand BOD5, total dissolved solids TDS, nitrate NO3, and sulfate SO4. The water quality analysis results were compared with the maximum allowable limit concentrat
... Show More60 patients diagnosed as having urticaria were included in the study ; 30 patients were effected with acute urticaria and 30 patients were affected with chronic urticaria. In addition, 30 healthy adult volunteers were selected as control group .The patients and control groups sera were examined with enzyme linked immunosorbent assay ( ELISA) to detect total level IgE and radial immunodiffusion (RID) to detect levels of IgG , IgA and IgM . The total level of IgE in acute urticaria ( 1.45±0.13) IU/mL and chronic urticaria (2.12 ± 0.10) IU/mL patients were significantly higher than the control groups ( 0.85 ± 0.10)IU/mL (p<0.05). The level of IgG in acute urticaria ( 12.5± 0.42) g/L and chronic (13.16±0.40) g/L patients , IgA in acute (2.
... Show MoreKlebsiella pneumoniae is a severe opportunistic strain of enteric bacteria that is a major cause of urinary tract infection and pneumonia. This study was conducted in Baghdad City during September 2020-November 2020 on 50 clinical samples of urine, vaginal, sputum, wound swabs, ear swabs, and burn swabs. strains were identified using the VITEK-2 compact system and tested in K. pneumoniae terms of susceptibility to various antimicrobial drugs by Kirby-Bauer test. The isolates were more predominant in the females (56%) compared to males (44%). The antibiotic resistance rate of varied among different isolated clinical sample sources. K. pneumoniae K. pneumoniae isolated from different clinical specimens differed with respect
... Show MoreLong-term use of sulfonylureas including chlorpropamide, is known to potentiate the antidiuretic action of arginine vasopressin (AVP), predisposing to hyponatremia.The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of long term use of glibenclamide on serum and urinary levels of sodium and potassium in Type 2 DM patients in Iraqi DM centers. Ninety eight patients with Type 2 DM who were maintained on different doses of glibenclamide for at least 1 year, attending the centre for Diabetes and Endocrinology in Al-Rusafa, Baghdad, were enrolled in the study, in addition to 15 normal healthy subjects. Patients were allocated into three groups according to the dose of glibenc
... Show MoreAbstract
This research aims to assess the practice of physical activities by people with intellectual disabilities and its challenges during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic from their families' point of view. The research sample consisted of (87) individuals from families with intellectual disabilities in the Makkah region. The sample was selected by the simple random method where the researcher used the descriptive analytical approach. A questionnaire of (32) items was used as the research tool to collect data. The findings of the study showed that the assessment level of practicing physical activities by people with intellectual disabilities was low. The public facilities dimension ranked first with a moder
... Show MoreHepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a significant global health problem. Populations of different ethnicities show great heterogeneity in HBV genotype frequency distributions. A cross-sectional study was conducted during June–October 2018 to determine frequency of HBV genotypes among chronic HBV patients from Baghdad, Iraq. The method of detection was nested polymerase chain reaction system. Further, the study assessed the impact of HBV genotypes on serum level of liver-function tests: total serum bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase. Eighty chronic HBV patients were enrolled in the study. Six HBV genotypes were identified (A, B, C, D, E and F). The most frequently encountered genotypes
... Show More4 Blood Res 2018;53:314-319. Received on August 11, 2018 Revised on August 30, 2018 Accepted on August 30, 2018 Background Iron overload is a risk factor affecting all patients with thalassemia intermedia (TI). We aimed to determine whether there is a relationship of serum ferritin (SF) and alanine ami- notransferase (ALT) with liver iron concentration (LIC) determined by R2 magnetic reso- nance imaging (R2-MRI), to estimate the most relevant degree of iron overload and best time to chelate in patients with TI. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 119 patients with TI (mean age years) were randomly se- lected and compared with 120 patients who had a diagnosis of thalassemia major (TM). Correlations of LIC, as determined by R2-MRI, with SF
... Show MoreOmentin (or intelectin) is a main visceral fat secretory adipokine. There is a growing interest to link omentin, obesity and co-morbidity factors. The aim of the present study is to evaluate serum omentin and its association to insulin resistance biomarkers, lipid profile and atherogenic indies. This cross – sectional study was conducted in Obesity Research and Therapy Unit-Alkindy College of Medicine by recruiting (115) individuals; 49 males /66 females. Subjects between (20 to 60) years of age were selected and classified into two groups according to their Body mass index (BMI). Group1 involved healthy lean volunteers (25 male/ 36 female; BMI 18.5 - 24.9). Group2 involved obese subjects; (24 male / 36 female with BMI ≥ 30). The s
... Show MoreBackground: Diabetes mellitus has been suggested
to be the most common metabolic disorder
associated with magnesium deficiency, and because
available data suggest that adverse outcomes are
associated with hypomagnesemia, it is prudent that
routine surveillance for hypomagnesemia be done
and the condition be treated whenever possible.
Aim of the study:To explore the serum Mg
concentrations of diabetic patients and healthy
controls in our locality.
Mehtods: One hundred and forty four diabetic
patients (22 with type I and 122 with type II diabetes
mellitus) recruited from the outpatient diabetes clinic
at the Specialized Center For Endocrine DiseasesBaghdad (62 patients), National Diabetes Center-Al