Worldwide, hundreds of millions of people have been infected with COVID-19 since December 2019; however, about 20% or less developed severe symptoms. The main aim of the current study was to assess the relationship between the severity of Covid-19 and different clinical and laboratory parameters. A total number of 466 Arabs have willingly joined this prospective cohort. Out of the total number, 297 subjects (63.7%) had negative COVID-19 tests, and thus, they were recruited as controls, while 169 subjects (36.3%) who tested positive for COVID-19 were enrolled as cases. Out of the total number of COVID-19 patients, 127 (75.15%) presented with mild symptoms, and 42 (24.85%) had severe symptoms. The age range for the participants was 20 to 82 years. Compared with controls, the severity of the disease was associated with significantly high ferritin levels (P < 0.001). The severity of the disease was also associated with a significant increase in C-reactive protein (P < 0.001), D-dimer (P < 0.001), white blood cell count (WBC) (P < 0.01), IgM (P < 0.001), and Granulocytes (P < 0.01). In addition, severe COVID-19 symptoms in the current study were associated with a significant decrease in lymphocytes (P < 0.01). There was a four-fold increase in serum ferritin levels in COVID-19 patients presented with severe symptoms upon admission. The former was associated with significantly high levels of CRP and D-dimer. Thus, hyperferritinemia, together with high CRP and D-dimer concentrations, may serve as reliable predictors for disease severity and poor prognosis in Arabs with COVID-19.
Background: Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory condition characterized by relapsing and remitting episodes of inflammation limited to the mucosal layer of the colon.Loop ileostomy might be helpful in the management of the disease.
Objective: To evaluate the role of loop ileostomy in the management of ulcerative colitis.
Methods: Between Januarys 2008 and January 2018, patients with fulminant ulcerative colitis resistant to medical therapy had been referred to our surgical unit and were included in our study. Assessment of the patients’ medical status (serum electrolytes, total serum protein, complete blood count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, general stool exam,and abdominal ultrasound
... Show MoreAsthma is chronic inflammatory disease affecting 5% of world population. Characterized by eosinophilic type2 inflammation. FKBP51 immunophilin, important modular protein of glucocorticoid receptor (GR). We aimed to evaluate immunocytochemical localization of GR and FKBP51 in induced sputum cells by using immunocytochemical method and immunofluorescent ant-FKBP51 and anti –GR antibody and estimation of IgE and Type 2 inflammatory cytokine IL-5,IL-13 by ELISA technique.GR in the sputum show non-significant decrease of cytoplasmic distribution of the patient groups and highly significant increase in steroid treated patients and non-significant increase in nuclear distribution in non-steroid, FKBP51 nuclear localization show non-significant i
... Show MoreOne of the most opportunistic mycosis globally is the Candida ssp., which is considered as the most agent that cause nosocomial urinary tract infections (UTIs), oral candidiasis and genitourinary candidiasis. This study included 100 samples of Iraqi subjects suffering from urinary tract infections. Identification of Candida have been done by different methods such as; characteristic of colony on culture, gram stain, and microscopically. This study aimed to isolation and identification of Candida spp from urine sample of UTI patients and find the relevance of ages and blood group of patients with the infections rate, also determine the effect of age on ESR and CRP levels in the patients. The results showed the higher frequency of
... Show MoreBackground and Objective: Public demand for procedures to rejuvenate photodamaged facial skin have stimulated the use of fractional CO2 laser as a precise and predictable treatment modality. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of fractional CO2 laser system for reducing periorbital rhytids.
Materials and Methods: twenty seven subjects with mild periocular wrinkles, and photoaged skin of the face were prospectively treated two to three times (according to clinical response) in the periorbital area with a fractional CO2 laser device equipped with a scanning hand piece. Improvements in eyelid wrinkles was evaluated clinically and photographically. Subjects also scored satisfaction and
... Show MoreHuman cytomegalovirus (HCMV) has a worldwide distribution and extremely common infections. The presence of HCMV genome and antigens has been detected in many kinds of human cancers especially breast cancer. In Iraq, the incidence of breast cancer generally exceeds any other type of malignancies among Iraqi population. The study was performed in the period between October 2016 and June 2017 in Central public health laboratory/Baghdad. It involve samples from 90 women including 60 breast cancer patients, 20 benign tumor patients, and 10 normal breast tissues. A blood sample was obtained from each woman included in this study. Anti-HCMV IgG antibody was presented in 9/10 (90%) of normal women, benign breast tumor patients 19/20 (95%) and malig
... Show MoreBackground: Chronic myelogenous leukemia is a malignant hematological disease of hematopoietic stem cells. It is difficult to adapt treatment to each patient's risk level because there are currently few clinical tests and no molecular diagnostics that may predict a patient's clock for the advancement of CML at the time of chronic phase diagnosis. Biomarkers that can differentiate people based on the outcome at diagnosis are needed for blast crisis prevention and response improvement. Objective: This study is an effort to exploit the SLC25A3 gene as a potential biomarker for CML. Methods: RT-qPCR was applied to assess the expression levels of the SLC25A3 gene. Results: In comparison to the mean ΔCt of the control group, which was found to b
... Show MoreAs a marker of systemic inflammation, raised (C-reactive protein (CRP)) concentrations which are still within the normal range have been associated with an increased inflammation of chronic renal diseases (CRD). The current study aimed to establish potential determinats of raised CRP concentrations in patients who treated in Heamodialysis room,then study the relationship between CRP& some biochemical parameters related CRD We used a CRP latex reagents Kit which is based on an immunological reaction between CRP antisera bounded to the biologically inert latex particles or with CRP in the test specimens of 19 patients with (CRD) mean age 48 years ,range = 30?65 & in 21 healthy subjects as control group their age range = 30 ?45 years. The
... Show MoreHuman Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is an enveloped ubiquitous ds-DNA virus that has been implicated in several types of malignancies. The current work was conducted in the period extending from (November 2018 to the end of October 2019) and aimed to assess the frequency of glycoprotein N (gN) genotypes of HCMV. A total number of 91serum and plasma specimens were collected to fulfill this purpose from females (71 breast cancer patients, and a control group of 20 females) attending Al-Amal hospital for cancer management and Baghdad teaching hospital. The molecular part of this data was achieved through both PCR and Multiplex PCR for detection of HCMV gN (UL73) entire gene as well as for genotyping. gN was detected in 36/71 (50.7%) of breast cancer
... 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
Background: Ambulatory peritoneal dialysis
introduced by Popvich et al (13) in 1978 , consists of a
four to five hours lavage of peritoneal cavity with 2000
ml of glucose solution .It remains a useful method for
treating patients with end stage renal failure till renal
transplantation becomes possible.
Objectives: The aim of the study is to evaluate the
value of cytological changes of mesothelial cells in
dialysate patients.
Methods: Within one year period, 32 cytological
peritoneal fluid samples were collected from patients
with end stage renal failure regardless of the underlying
causes, admitted to the dialyzing unit in Kadimya
Teaching Hospital. Smears were prepared and fixed in
95 % ethyl al