Background: ;Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major cause of chronic liver disease. Approximately 85% of patients acutely infected with HCV progress to chronic liver disease with persistence of HCV-RNA for more than 6 months Among patients with chronic HCV infection , 15-20% progress to end-stage liver disease main transmission methods of the virus is by : blood and blood products ; sharing needles and acupuncture .Objective: To evaluate Iraqi patients infected with chronic HCV, including their treatment, and factors that affect their response to treatment .Methods :This study was performed at Gastroenterology and Hepatology hospital in Baghdad from January 2011 to March 2012.The study enrolled 90 patients with HCV Antibody positive (Ab +ve) , every patient subjected to thorough history taking and clinical examination, and complete investigations , some of the patients subjected to liver biopsy which is analyzed by Ishak classification , the data analyzed by chi square and P value <0.05 considered statistically significant..All these patients were treated with peg interferon alpha2a given once weekly and ribavirin given in two doses daily and follow up the patients during treatment regimen.Results: Ninety patients were enrolled, 66(73.3%) patients were male,24(26.7%) patients were female, patient age range from 18-63,mean age 41.4 year .The predominant genotype is genotype 1:45 (50%) patients , genotype 4:33(36.7%) patients .Only 27(30%)patients have viral load more than 600,000Uml while 63(70%) Patients have viral load less than 600,000Uml .34(37.7%) patients showed End treatment virological response.39 (42.2%) patients had been subjected to liver biopsy including those genotype 1 and4.There was a significant association between viral load and liver enzymes .Conclusion: There is a relatively low complete response to the treatment regimen for hepatitis C . Most of our patient with hepatitis C are discovered accidently, Most of them are male , young or middle age , asymptomatic or have minimal symptom , have low viral load .The commonest genotype is 1(50%) followed by genotype 4(36.7%) .Early virologic response were seen in most of the patients while end treatment response were seen in only 37.78% .
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of chronic liver and defines by fat accumulation ≥5% in liver which can progresses to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). NAFLD related to obesity as well as non obese individuals. Adiponectin is a cytokine secreted from adipose tissue involved NAFLD pathogenesis and liked with obesity. Irisin is a myokine, has a convenient effect against metabolic diseases such as obesity, disylipemia diabetes type 2 and reversed liver steatosis and may be related with NAFLD. Vitamin D is one of the fat soluble vitamins and more precisely as a pro-hormone through its metabolite (1,25(OH)2 cholecalciferol) the major steroid hormone. After the skin exposure to the light, vitamin D undergoes to
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Background: Assessment of function of the right side of the heart in cases of left ventricular dysfunction has been widely studied but the sensitive and specific echocardiographic parameter to be tested is still a matter of controversy. Right ventricular function is related to left ventricular function by ventricular independence so function of both should be assessed carefully. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of left ventricular systolic dysfunction on right ventricular systolic and diastolic functions and pulmonary pressure using conventional and tissue Doppler echocardiography. Patients and Methods: Sixty patients (39 males and 21 females) with heart failure due to left ventricular systolic dysfunction
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Anaemia is a common extra-articular manifestation of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) where anaemia of chronic disease (ACD) and iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) are the two most frequent types. The distinction between these two types of anaemia has always been challenging requiring sophisticated techniques. Serum transferrin receptor (sTfR) a truncated soluble form of the transferrin receptor is one of the parameters that is influenced by the Iron content and supply to the erythrons and is not affected by inflammatory status and therefore the use of the sTfR/log ferritin (sTfR-F) index can be a reliable indicator of functional iron deficiency.
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Background: Cell adhesion molecules are protein entities that are located on the cell surface. The vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) expression is related to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with dyslipidemia. Objectives: To determine the levels of VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 in T2DM patients with dyslipidemia and to explore the relationship between VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 and the development of dyslipidemia in T2DM patients. Patients and methods: The study included 150 individuals with an age range of (35-55) years. Patients with diabetes for more than 5 years were excluded. Fifty healthy individuals constituted Group 1 (G1), fifty patients with T2DM constituted Group 2 (G2), and fifty T2DM p
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The reticuloendothelial system (RES) play an important role in immunity against bacterial infection and Klebsiella pneumoniae one of the most common causes of hospital-acquired infections. Dextran70 (D70), a polysaccharide, may alter functions of this system through changing many biological activities in the tissues.
Infection with the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii is widely prevalent in humans and animals. Infection with Toxoplasma may associate with miscarriage in many pregnant women due to infection. In this study, the level of lutetropic hormone (LTH), folliclestimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) was measured in pregnant women suffering from toxoplasmosis using mini-VIDAS®technique. Results showed that pregnant women have high concentration of both LTH and FSH hormone(10.80 ± 6.53) ng/ml and (9.51 ± 2.40) μIU/ml respectively, while the concentration of LH hormone was lower than normal(4.49 ± 0.56) μIU/ml. Such finding is to suggest that infection with T. gondii is interfering with these hormones in pregnant women.
Visceral leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease on the rise in different regions of Iraq, especially in areas with poor hygiene and among refugee populations. The effectiveness of existing chemotherapy for leishmaniasis is constrained by its high toxicity, cost, and the development of drug resistance. The current research examined various concentrations (ranging from 125 to 1000 μM) of lupeol to evaluate its ability to boost the generation of nitric oxide, which has anti-leishmanial properties, in an ex-vivo macrophage model. Griess assay was used to detect the nitric oxide (NO) production in Leishmania donovani infected U937 cell-line macrophages along 24 and 48 hours post treated. The nitric oxide concentration was signifi
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Introduction and Aim: Graves ophthalmopathy is one of the pandemic public health disorders in Iraq. The current investigation attempts to determine the variation in the complete total blood cells on the recovery of individuals with Graves' ophthalmopathy following low and high-dose Radioactive Iodine 131 (RI-131) exposures. Materials and Methods: The complete blood CBC level in people with Graves' illness and healthy, normal controls were quantitatively identified using the CBC counter. Thyroid stimulating hormone was utilized to compare the recovery of ophthalmopathy patients in comparison to a control group. Results: In comparison to healthy controls, patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy disease who received 10 mci of RAI-
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