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: Type 2 diabetes mellitusand chronic periodontitis hold a close relationship that has been the focus of many researches. Currently there is an appreciation to the role of adipose tissue-derived substances "the adipokines" in immune-inflammatory responses; also, there is an interest in using the simple non-invasive saliva in diagnosing and linking oral and general health problems. The current study aims to determine the periodontal health status in the chronic periodontitis patients with and without poorly or well controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus, measure the salivary levels of two adipokines "leptin and resistin", pH and flow rate and then correlate between these clinical periodontal, biochemical and physical parameters in eac
... Show MoreBackground: Ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic inflammatory disease that mostly involves the spine and sacroiliac joints. It is associated with a decreased quality of life. Biological medicines such as infliximab and its biosimilar are the mainstay treatments for active ankylosing spondylitis.
Objective: The study objective was to conduct a pharmacoeconomic study comparing the cost-effectiveness of the reference infliximab with its biosimilar in ankylosing spondylitis patients visiting public hospitals.
Subjects and Method: This is a two-center pharmacoeconomic study performed at two large teaching governmental hospitals in Baghdad, Iraq, which s
... Show MoreThe aim of this study was to evaluate the risk factors that influence the perforation, regardless of the presence of H. pylori infection, in a sample of Iraqi patients with peptic ulcers, admitted to Al-Kindy Teaching Hospital. A total of 90 patients who had perforated peptic ulcer participated in this study. The diagnosis was based on history, clinical examination, laboratory and radiological investigations and was confirmed intraoperatively. A number of probable risk factors for perforation were investigated. Eighty participants were males and 10 were females (male to female ratio 8:1). About 42.2% of patients were in their fifth decade of life. Forty-nine (54.4%) patients were asymptomatic be
RA is a complex chronic disease, primarily affects the lining of the synovial joints and can cause progressive disability, premature death, and socioeconomic burdens. The clinical manifestations of symmetrical joint involvement include arthralgia, swelling, redness, and even limiting the range of motion. The pathogenesis is not known therefore the study included Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of systemic inflammatory diseases that characterized by a progressive disabling course. The study included patients suffering from RA and as healthy controls. immunological and genetic factor were evaluated in each subject by using serum level of cytokine and genetic factor. The etiopathology of the disease is not well known for this reason the study
... Show MoreBackground: One of the most prevalent procedures in oral surgery is the removal of impacted mandibular third molars, typically accompanied by trismus, edema, and pain. Several methods and biomaterials were implemented to mitigate or avoid these surgical problems. Objectives: To evaluate the efficiency of chlorhexidine gel (WISDOM®) in minimizing postoperative sequelae associated with the impacted mandibular third molar that will be surgically extracted and its role in promoting early soft tissue closure of the surgical site. Methods: The study design was a double-masked and randomized, controlled clinical study that included healthy patients needing the removal of a mandibular third molar through surgery. The participants were rand
... Show MoreThe Specific activity of extracellular superoxide dismutase (EC-SOD) was measured in healthy persons and in patients with benign and malignant brain tumors. The results show decrease of the EC-SOD specific activity in sera of patients with benign and malignant brain tumors in comparison to that of control group.This study concentrated on studying the changes that occur in sera EC-SOD activity of patients with benign and malignant brain tumors, in comparison to that of normal individuals. The result also revealed that this isoenzyme is present in many different molecular weights forms (as judged by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis), some of these with no enzymatic activity. Conversion among these forms occurs in the malignant sera
The present study aims at assessing the effects of chronic kidney disease (CKD) on thyroid hormone and leptin by evaluating the level of: leptin hormone along with thyroid hormone in CKD patients. The study has been conducted on 70 subjects, 50 patients with an age range between 20-50 years (25 males and 25 females) who were diagnosed to have CKD stage-5, and 20 normal controls whose ages ranged between 20-48 years (10 males and 10 females), who attended the Nephrology and Transplant Center in Medical City of Baghdad- Iraq from April 2018 to July 2018. The study showed a highly significant (P<0.01) increase in TSH level in CKD patients in comparison with controls. While T3 and T4 levels observed highly significant decrea
... Show MoreThis study was conducted to investigate thyroid function and Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) in (Chronic kidney disease) CKD patients by evaluating their levels in CKD patients, 50 patients were diagnosed to have CKD stage-5, their ages ranged between 20-50 years (25 males and 25 females) who attended the Nephrology and Transplant Center in Medical City of Baghdad- Iraq, they were recruited from April 2018 to July 2018 and were enrolled into the study. The control group consisted of 20 healthy individuals, their ages ranged between 20-48 years (10 males and 10 females). The study showed non-significant (p>0.05) increase in AMH level in CKD patients compared to the control group. On the other hand, TSH was recorded a highly significant (
... Show MoreAbstract: The present study aimed to evaluate calcium, potassium, albumin, protein, creatinine, urea, uric acid levels, and the level of total sialic acid in the sera of patients with chronic renal failure who had been infected with Hepatitis C virus and in the sera of patients with chronic renal failure, and compare them with healthy volunteers. A total of 90 subjects with age 25-55 years, were divided into three groups. G1 represents 30 patients with chronic renal failure who had treated by dialysis and infected with chronic Hepatitis C virus (positive group). G2 represents 30 patients with chronic failure who had been treated by dialysis (negative group), while G3 represents 30 healthy volunteers (control group). The results showed
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