Background: The interest in herbal extracts as antimicrobial agents has increased over the past few years in endodontic therapy. Nasturtium officinale (watercress) is a promising plant with great medicinal values. This study aimed to investigate the antifungal activity of watercress oil in combination with calcium hydroxide against Candida albicans as intracanal medicament. Materials and Methods: Candida albicans was isolated from patients with necrotic root canal or failed root canal treatment. The sensitivity of Candida albicans to different concentrations of watercress oil extract was determined by using the agar well diffusion method in comparison with calcium hydroxide paste. The agar plate method was used to determine the minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of the tested oil against the fungus. The combination of the oil extract of Nasturtium officinale with calcium hydroxide was evaluated and compared to calcium hydroxide paste with iodoform by using the agar well diffusion method. Results: The oil extract exhibited antifungal activity against Candida albicans, this activity was found to be increased as the concentration of extract increased. The tested combination of watercress oil extract with calcium hydroxide revealed larger inhibition zones than the ones formed by each tested agent individually. Conclusion: The oil extract of Nasturtium officinale is active against Candida albicans suggesting its potential to be used as an intracanal medicament alone or in combination with calcium hydroxide.
Background: Several infectious lung diseases often develop in patients with Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), especially during immunosuppressive medication, including disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs). The present study aimed to determine the role of respiratory tract bacterial infection in RA activity. Methods: Blood and sputum samples were collected from 31 patients with RA and 12 healthy subjects as control. The bacterial isolates were isolated and identified in collected sputum by biochemical tests and Vitec 2 system. Results: In the present study, thirty-one patients with RA were compared with 12 healthy subjects. Eight patients with RA were not infected with pathogenic bacteria (RA-NIPB) (25.8%). Twenty-three RA patients wer
... Show MoreMany cinematic adaptations were produced for the Grimms’ “Little Snow-White” (1812) including Mirror Mirror movie (2012), the contemporary version adapted by Taresm Singh. Singh’s version was able to depict the modern reality of women and went against patriarchy by embracing feminist ideologies of the fourth-wave feminism. Therefore, he challenged the ideologies of the mainstream cinema dominated by the patriarchal élite’s capitalist mode of production that still adhere to the stereotyped patriarchal image of women’s ‘victimization,’ ‘objectification’ and ‘marginalization,’ which did not represent women’s modern reality anymore. This paper, however, is a qualitative study aimed to prove that the femini
... Show MoreConstructing a fine 3D geomodel for complex giant reservoir is a crucial task for hydrocarbon volume assessment and guiding for optimal development. The case under study is Mishrif reservoir of Halfaya oil field, which is an Iraqi giant carbonate reservoir. Mishrif mainly consists of limestone rocks which belong to Late Cenomanian age. The average gross thickness of formation is about 400m. In this paper, a high-resolution 3D geological model has been built using Petrel software that can be utilized as input for dynamic simulation. The model is constructed based on geological, geophysical, pertophysical and engineering data from about 60 available wells to characterize the structural, stratigraphic, and properties distribution along
... Show MoreConstructing a fine 3D geomodel for complex giant reservoir is a crucial task for hydrocarbon volume assessment and guiding for optimal development. The case under study is Mishrif reservoir of Halfaya oil field, which is an Iraqi giant carbonate reservoir. Mishrif mainly consists of limestone rocks which belong to Late Cenomanian age. The average gross thickness of formation is about 400m. In this paper, a high-resolution 3D geological model has been built using Petrel software that can be utilized as input for dynamic simulation. The model is constructed based on geological, geophysical, pertophysical and engineering data from about 60 available wells to characterize the structural, stratigraphic, and properties distri
... Show MoreA new methodology was applied to the synthesis of new imidazolones and oxyazepine derivatives containing imidazo thiazole fused rings. Starting with 5-(4-bromo phenyl) imidazo (2, 1-b) thiazole, which was synthesized using the standard procedure, the Carbaldehyed group was introduced at position 6 of 5-(4-bromo phenyl) imidazo (2, 1-b) thiazole. Then, this 6-carbaldehyed derivative was condensed with different substituted aromatic amines to afford new Schiff bases. The latter were cyclized into new oxazepine and imidazolone derivatives by using phthalic anhydride and glycine, respectively. These new derivatives were characterized by using FT-IR, 1HHNMR, and 13CNMR spectra, as well as examined (evaluated) for anti-bacterial and anti-fungal a
... Show MoreBackground: Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease characterized by joint inflammation, involvement of exocrine salivary and lacrimal glands may occur as extra-articular mani¬festations in this disease. This study aimed to provide evidence of altered in function and composition of salivary gland in patients with rheumatoid arthritis by determine salivary flow rate and some biochemical parameters(total protein, amylase, peroxidase) and to investigate the relationship between disease activity and changes in function and composition of salivary gland. Materials and Methods: Fifty five patients with RA (7 males and 48 females) were enrolled in this study with age range (20-69) years. The patients were separated int
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Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory condition that primarily affects the skin, hair, and joints and is associated with significant humanistic and economic consequences. Psoriasis was induced in mice in this work using an imiquimod 5% cream, an immune response modifier that can cause psoriasis-like skin inflammation when given orally. Paquinimod is prepared as a suspension and has been orally given to mice before imiquimod application. The current study found that paquinimod suspension reduced psoriasis area and severity index, spleen index, skin thickness ,TNF-α,IL-23,IL17 level and gene expression of TN
... Show More5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is a is Pyrimidine analogue widely used in the treatment of various malignancies It belongs to the antimetabolites family that acts during the S-phase of the cell cycle thus it prevents DNA synthesis.N-acetylcysteine is nutritional complement acts as antioxidant.The purpose of the current study is to investigate whether there is a protective role of N-acetylcystein against intestinal toxicity induced by 5-fluorouracil in albino rats.18 healthy adult rats were distributed into 3 groups of 6 rats for each. Group A as a control group.Group B injected with 5-FU (20 mgs dissolved in 2ml normal saline per kilogram body weight intraperitoneally for 7 successive days while Group C received N-acetylcy
... Show MoreDoxorubicin (DOX) is an efficient antineoplastic agent with a broad antitumor spectrum; however, doxorubicin-associated cardiotoxic adverse effect through oxidative damage and apoptosis limits its clinical application. Cafestol (Caf) is a naturally occurring diterpene in unfiltered coffee with unique antioxidant, antimutagenic, and anti-inflammatory activities by activating the Nrf2 pathway. The present study aimed to investigate the potential chemoprotective effect of cafestol on DOX-induced cardiotoxicity in rats. Wistar albino rats of both sexes were administered cafestol (5 mg/kg/day) for 14 consecutive days by oral gavage alone or with doxorubicin which was injected as a single dose (15 mg/kg intraperitoneally at day 14) to i
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