Background: The COVID-19 virus outbreak had a massive effect on many parts of people's lives, as they were advised to quarantine and lockdown to prevent the virus from spreading, which had a big impact on people's mental health, anxiety, and stress. Many internal and external factors lead to stress. This negatively influences the body's homeostasis. As a result, stress may affect the body's capacity to use energy to defend against pathogens. Many recent investigations have found substantial links between human mental stress and the production of hormones, prohormones, and/or immunological chemicals. some of these researches have verified the link between stress and salivary cortisol levels. The aim of this study is to measure salivary cortisol as a stress biomarker as well as a total viable count of salivary bacterial microbiome among COVID-19 patients. Materials and methods: a sample of 84 adults patients was collected who were divided into two groups: the COVID-19 group consists of 42 patients and the COVID-19 free group which consists of 42 subjects. All subjects undergo a PCR test to confirm their health status. The collection of Un-stimulated saliva was done. Laboratory investigations were carried out to measure the total viable count of the salivary bacterial microbiome by culturing on Brain Heart Infusion Agar and to evaluate the salivary cortisol level using cortisol kit (Elecsys Cortisol II). Results: SPSS version 21 was used for statistical analysis. According to the statistical analysis, the salivary cortisol and total viable count of salivary bacterial microbiome values were substantially greater in the COVID-19 group than in the COVID-19 free group. Conclusion: A positive association was found between salivary cortisol and the total viable count of the salivary bacterial microbiome. So, when the concentration of salivary cortisol is elevated in the COVID-19 group, the level of the total viable count of the salivary bacterial microbiome is also elevated.
Background: Community pharmacists endure significantly elevated levels of work-related stress and depression, posing a threat to their overall well-being and possibly affecting the quality of patient care. Objectives: To explore workplace-associated stress and depression in Iraqi community pharmacists. Methods: This observational study was conducted using a cross-sectional design. Information was gathered through the utilization of an internet-based survey. The study involved a community pharmacist with a minimum of one year of experience working at community pharmacies. The survey utilized pre-validated questionnaires. The level of stress experienced was assessed using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)-10, while the level of depression was
... Show MoreKE Sharquie, MM Al-Waiz, AA Noaimi, Iraqi Postgraduate Medical Journal, 2008 - Cited by 1
Background: Drug resistant epilepsy is defined as failure of adequate trials of two tolerated, appropriately chosen and used antiepileptic drug schedules to achieve sustained seizure freedom. Up to 30% of patients referred to clinics with a diagnosis of pharmaco-resistant epilepsy may have been misdiagnosed, and many can be helped by optimizing their treatment.Pseudoresistance, in which seizures persist because the underlying disorder has not been adequately or appropriately treated, must be ruled out or corrected before drug treatment can be considered to have failed.
Objectives: The objectives of this study were to determine the causes of drug failure in patients with epilepsy and to differenti
... Show MoreFunctional dyspepsia is one of the most common gastrointestinal symptoms and attributed to various causes including Helicobacter pylori infection. AIM OF THE STUDY: To correlate Helicobacter pylori infection to functional dyspepsia and to identify the possible risk factors for this infection. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty patients who were referred to the endoscopy unit for dyspepsia symptoms, secondary gastric causes of dyspepsia were excluded during endoscopy, gastric biopsies were taken for histopathological study and for bedside urease test for detection of Helicobacter pylori infection. RESULTS: 62% of non-ulcer dyspeptic patients were infected with Helicobacter pylori, 74.2% of the patients were above 30 years old, female gender patient
... Show MoreThe practice of self medication is continuously increasing worldwide due to its important roles in curing minor conditions or symptoms. This study was conducted to evaluate the factors associated with self medication practice of Iraqi respondents residing in Baghdad City. This study was designed as cross sectional study in which data was collected via direct interviews with respondents using a previously prepared questionnaire. This study investigated 348 respondents from different age groups. The majority of respondents were male aged between 30-60 years, married with secondary or academic level of education and employed with accepted monthly income. The main reason for practicing self medication was previous experience with the same condi
... Show MoreFish are regarded as a crucial indicator of alterations in the aquatic environment due to their position at the apex of the food chain. Monitoring these alterations is crucial for identifying modifications in the aquatic ecosystem. The principal elements influencing fish health are temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, salinity, pesticide contamination, microplastics, and algal presence. These elements substantially influence fish health regarding development, reproduction, respiration, oxygen stress, and the internal enzymes associated with digesting and other metabolic functions. Alterations in global environmental conditions and anthropogenic pollutants result in modifications to fish populations, their lives, and their behavior and
... Show MoreAryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is a potent ligand for AhR and a known carcinogen. While AhR activation by TCDD leads to significant immunosuppression, how this translates into carcinogenic signal is unclear. Recently, we demonstrated that activation of AhR by TCDD in naïve C57BL6 mice leads to massive induction of myeloid derived-suppressor cells (MDSCs). In the current study, we investigated the role of the gut microbiota in TCDD-mediated MDSC induction. TCDD caused significant alterations in the gut microbiome, such as increases in Prevotella and Lactobacillus, while decreasing Sutterella and Bacteroides. Fecal transplants from TCDD-treated
... Show MoreThe open hole well log data (Resistivity, Sonic, and Gamma Ray) of well X in Euphrates subzone within the Mesopotamian basin are applied to detect the total organic carbon (TOC) of Zubair Formation in the south part of Iraq. The mathematical interpretation of the logs parameters helped in detecting the TOC and source rock productivity. As well, the quantitative interpretation of the logs data leads to assigning to the organic content and source rock intervals identification. The reactions of logs in relation to the increasing of TOC can be detected through logs parameters. By this way, the TOC can be predicted with an increase in gamma-ray, sonic, neutron, and resistivity, as well as a decrease in the density log
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