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
Empirical equations for estimating thickening time and compressive strength of bentonitic - class "G" cement slurries were derived as a function of water to cement ratio and apparent viscosity (for any ratios). How the presence of such an equations easily extract the thickening time and compressive strength values of the oil field saves time without reference to the untreated control laboratory tests such as pressurized consistometer for thickening time test and Hydraulic Cement Mortars including water bath ( 24 hours ) for compressive strength test those may have more than one day.
Osteoporosis (OP)is one of the most important metabolic disorder also affected by interaction of genetic and environmental factors by almost 70% and 30% respectively. Genetic components are identified to strongly effect bone mineral density, bone building and turnover, so they play an important role in determining risk of OP and fragility fractures. This study consists of patient and control group; Group A: (70) postmenopausal women with OP and osteopenia, Group B: (20) control group. five milliliters of blood sample were divided into three tubes; one tube (1ml) contain gel for obtain serum to measure glucose level, the others tubes containing ethylene-diamine-tetra-acetic acid (EDTA), in 2 tube 2ml stored in deep freeze at (–40
... Show MoreAdenosine deaminase (ADA; Ec: 3.5.4.4), 5´- Nucleotidase (5´– NT; Ec: 3.1.3.5), and AMP – amino hydrolase (AMP – deaminase AMPDA; Ec: 3.5.4.6) activities were measured in sera of ovarian cancer patients before surgery, and after chemotherapy. The results indicated that ADA specific activity increased significantly (P<0.05), while 5´-NT and AMPDA specific activity decreased significantly (P<0.05) in ovarian cancer patients before surgery in comparison with those of their corresponding control women and benign tumors groups. When the activities of these enzymes were measured after chemotherapy, a significant decrease (P<0.05) in ADA activity, and a significant increase (P<0.05) in 5´- NT and AMPDA activities w
... Show MoreThe present study was performed to evaluate the level of some risk factors (biochemical and immunological) in hypothyroid Iraqi patients considering the different thyroid functional states (hypothyroidism and subclinical hypothyroidism).The study includes 82 patients clinically diagnosed with hypothyroidism. Three study groups have been investigated: (47 clinical hypothyroid patients, 12 subclinical hypothyroid patients 23 healthy individuals) of different ages. This study, show that the proportion of females (83.3 %), (87.2%) in subclinical and clinical hypothyroidisim respectively higher than the proportion of males (16.7%),(12.8%) in subclinical and clinical hypothyrodism respectively of the total patients.The majority of subclinical hyp
... Show MoreThe molluscum contagiosum virus (MCV) is a dermatotropic poxvirus. The causative agent of molluscum contagiosum (MC) is nonlethal, common and worldwide. Additionally, little inflammation is associated with MC papules. The present study aims to evaluate the immune status of MC patients by measuring the level of immunoglobulins IgG and IgM by using the radial immune diffusion assay (RIA) and the level of interleukin 18 receptor 1 (IL-18R1) by the Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).The study is conducted during November 2013 to April, 2014 in outpatient clinic of Baquba Teaching Hospital. There are 75 patients, diagnosed with clinical lesions of MCV on different areas of the body, whose age is ranged between 2-50 years including 40(53.
... Show MoreGenus Eucalyptus belongs to the family Myrtaceae that consists of more than 700 species, various hybrids and varieties. The majorly distributed species that are grown in Iraq are Eucalyptus alba, E. macarthurii, E. siderophloia and E. camaldulensis, E. tereticornis, E. vicina. Most Eucalyptus species are highly dependent on rainfall, and this is challenged by climatic changes owing to global warming making it difficult to effectively match the availability of mature trees and the market demand, especially for use as power transmission poles. With the widespread availability of other naturally occurring Eucalyptus species, it has become important to determine the genetic diversity and to analyze the phenotypic tra
... Show MoreBackground: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine and metabolic disorder affecting women of reproductive age. Oxidative stress may contribute to its pathogenesis. Paraoxonase-1 (PON1) is an antioxidant enzyme associated with high-density lipoprotein, and its genetic polymorphisms may alter enzyme activity. This study aimed to investigate the association between PON1 L55M polymorphism (rs854560) and PCOS in Iraqi women.Methods: This case-control study included 80 women aged 20–35 years who were in good general health and matched for age and body mass index (BMI). Genomic DNA was extracted using a commercial kit. The PON1 L55M polymorphism was amplified by polymerase chain reaction and genotyped by direct sequen
... Show MoreThe use of piezocatalysis with photocatalysis in the degradation of organic pollutants has become an attractive research field due to the enhanced synergistic effect of the two processes. Herein, binary composites of AgBr decorated onto Br-doped g-C3N4 in different weight percentages (AgBr content was varied from 10 wt% to 40 wt%) have been built as heterojunction piezo-photo catalysts with a highly efficient performance. The 20 wt%AgBr/Br-g-C3N4 catalysts showed synergistically improved piezo-photo catalytic decomposition toward Methylene blue (MB) under visible-light and sonication exposure in a simple constructed split-plate airlift contactor, completing 99.7 % degradation of MB within 60 min. The heterogeneous junction established among
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