Background: Prolactin is a hormone, as well as a cytokine which is synthesized and secreted from the anterior pituitary gland and various extra pituitary sites including immune cells under control of a superdistal promoter that contains a single nucleotide polymorphism -1149 G/T. Rheumatoid Arthritis has been associated with increased serum prolactin levels.Objectives: To investigate the association of the extra pituitary -1149 G/T promoter polymorphism among Iraqi rheumatoid arthritis patients and prolactin levels.Methods: We tested 73 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 40 healthy individuals. The DNA samples were genotyped using the Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction fragment Length Polymorphism method and the levels of prolactin serum were measured using Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay.Results: The parameters rheumatoid factor, C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and serum prolactin concentrations of rheumatoid arthritis patients were significantly increased compared with healthy controls. The frequency of T allele and TT genotype was highest in control group compared with their frequency in rheumatoid arthritispatients, vice versa the G allele and GG genotype. There issignificant differences in prolactin levels in rheumatoid arthritis patients compared with healthy controls according to PRL-1149 G/T polymorphism. In rheumatoid arthritis patients, carriers of the GG, GT genotypes had higher prolactin levels in comparison to TT genotype but did not show any significant difference.Conclusions: There is a possible association between prolactin levels and rheumatoid arthritis. We found correlation between rheumatoid arthritis and prolactin -1149 G/T polymorphism. The prolactin -1149 G allele is a genetic marker for increased rheumatoid arthritis susceptibility in Iraqi population. In addition, influence of prolactin -1149 G/T polymorphism on prolactin levels
Shoulder immobilization is one of the injuries that lead to disability and loss of movement in the joint within a short time, which called the researchers to find appropriate therapeutic means to rehabilitate this injury. They prepared a rehabilitation program accompanying the reflexology technique to rehabilitate the injury of the immobilized shoulder of the small degree and improve the range of movement and muscle strength working on the shoulder joint The sample was selected from the male patients aged (40-50) years. The muscle strength test was used using the force sensor, the shoulder range test from the flexion and extension position and the visual analog test to measure the level of pain. The study concluded that the pre-rehabilitati
... Show MoreBackground: 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 MoreThe prevalence of diabetes is increasing rapidly and is now recognized as a significant global health problem. Diabetes occurs when a person does not produce enough insulin due to an imbalance in insulin production. This can lead to the failure of organs and tissues such as the kidneys, heart, blood vessels, eyes, nerves, and kidneys. As a result, early diagnosis and classification of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are critical to aiding physician assessments. Subsequently, the current study aims to determine irisin levels in patients with T2DM and pre-DM as early predictors for disease cases. The current study included 138 subjects divided into three groups based on fasting blood glucose (FBG) and glycosylated hemoglobi
... Show MoreAnaemia is a crucial issue among cancer patients and need to be treated properly. High incidence of anaemia in patients with cancer have been associated with several physiological manifestations, leading to decreased quality of life (QOL).
The current study aimed to assess the severity of anaemia, evaluate the current treatment guideline of anaemia, and to determine the association between the level of anaemia and its treatment on quality of life of breast cancer patients in Malaysia. This prospective study conducted among breast cancer patients in multicancer centers in Malaysia including three follow ups after receiving their chemotherapy. Clinical data were collected from their medical records and at each follow up, they asked
... Show MoreObjectives: With the advent of ongoing novel modalities toward the treatment of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)/NEU - positive malignancies, the serious side effects of chemoradiotherapy have been minimized. Hence, this study was conducted to identify the patterns of immunohistochemical expression of the promising therapeutic target (HER2/NEU) among Iraqi patients with medulloblastoma in an attempt to provide basic histological information’s that would help in future clinical researches.Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, 42 formalin - fixed paraffin - embedded tissue blocks represent cases of surgically removed medulloblastomas were retrieved from the archived materials in a specialized surgical ho
... Show MoreSystemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is one of the autoimmune disorders, generated by a production of specific autoantibodies against self-antigens before the occurrence of clinical symptoms. The etiology of disease is still unknown, although there have been several infectious agents that have been associated with SLE development, especially in genetically predisposed individuals. Herpes simplex virus-I and -II (HSV-I and -II) and Toxoplasma gondiiare two infectious agents that have been suggested to be involved in SLE etiology. Accordingly, the present study assessed anti- HSV-I and -II and anti-T. gondii IgG and IgM antibodies by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay in sera of 64 SLE female patients and 32 healthy control women. The patients w
... Show MoreObjective(s): To evaluate nurses' practices who work in respiratory intensive care units to control the
complications of patients admitted at this unit and determine the relationship between nurses' sociodemographic
characteristics and their practices.
Methodology: A descriptive study was carried out at Respiratory Care Unit at Baghdad teaching hospitals that
started from February 22th, 2013 to August 30th, 2013. A purposive "non-probability" sample of (70) nurses who
work in Respiratory Care Unit was selected from Baghdad teaching hospitals. The data were collected through the
use of constructed questionnaire that consists of two parts; (l) Demographic data form that consists of 7items and
(2) nurses' practice form
Background: Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a significant contributor to end-stage renal failure in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Diabetic nephropathy is characterized by tubular atrophy, glomerular dilation, glomerulosclerosis, interstitial fibrosis, and proteinuria, resulting in deterioration of kidney function. DN, primarily caused by hyperglycemia, accounts for millions of deaths globally and is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease. Matrix metalloproteinase 10 is an enzyme essential for the breakdown of extracellular matrix constituents. Fetuin-A forms soluble complexes with calcium and phosphate to prevent soft tissue mineralization Objectives: To determine the levels of Matrix Metalloproteinase 10 and
... Show MoreAbstract The results of isolation, morphological and microscopic diagnosis, Chromic Agar, Vitik technology and Bact Alert showed that the diagnosis of fungi isolated from blood samples of end-stage renal patients who did not undergo dialysis and those who underwent dialysis was 60 samples for each type. The total number of fungal isolates isolated from people who did not undergo dialysis was 26 pathogenic fungal isolates, with a percentage frequency of 43.33%. In this study, 4 genera of pathogenic fungi were identified: Candida spp, Rhodotorula spp, Cryptococcus spp. and Aspergillus spp. The number of Candida isolates reached 13 isolates, with a frequency of 50%. The results also showed that the diagnosed species from the genus Rhodotorula
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