Background: Pleural effusion is a common clinical
problem.
Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the
diagnostic utility of Carcino embryonic antigen
(CEA), CA 15- 3, and alpha-feto protein ( AFP ) as
a tumor markers in serum and pleural effusion and
evaluate the value of combining them as a diagnostic
tools that are complementary to cytology in the
diagnosis of malignancies .
Methods: Forty patients (18 malignant and 22 benign
pleural effusion) were included in this study .The
serum and effusion levels of CEA, CA 15 – 3 and
AFP were measured using immunoradiometric assay
Results: from the 40 effusions studied 26 were
exudates and 14 were transudates. The level of
pleural effusions of CEA, CA 15 – 3 and AFP were
increased above the cutoffs in 72.5%, 94.4 % and 5.5
% of tested samples with malignancies respectively.
A direct strong significant correlation between serum
and pleural fluid CEA, CA 15 – 3 and AFP was
noted.
Conclusion: Pleural effusion CEA is the most
accurate marker for the diagnostic separation of
malignant and benign. The combination of both CEA,
CA 15 – 3 improves the sensitivity by up to 11 %.
AFP has no role in the process
Thyroid hormones, triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxin (T4) play an important role in growth, development, and physiology of the kidney. The kidney has a central role in metabolism and clearance of these hormones as well as thyroid – stimulating hormone (TSH). Chronic renal failure (CRF) is a state of irreversible deceleration in renal function results in alterations in internal milieu, which affects the synthesis and secretory rate of hormones. To evaluate the thyroid hormone levels in non-dialyzed patients with chronic renal failure (CRF); 24 patients with CRF aged 30-70 years, mean±S.d. (48.458 ± 13.569) and 48 healthy volunteers who served as controls aged 30-70 years (43.104 ± 12.387) were studied for their thyroid function status u
... Show MoreRecent phosphorus (P) pollution in the United States, mainly in Maine, has raised some severe concerns over the use of P fertilizer application rates in agriculture. Phosphorus is the second most limiting nutrient after nitrogen and has damaging impacts on crop yield if found to be deficient. Therefore, farmers tend to apply more P than is required to satisfy any P loss after its application at planting. Several important questions were raised in this study to improve P efficiency and reduce its pollution. The objective of this study was to find potential reasons for P pollution in water bodies despite a decrease in potato acreage. Historically, the potato was found to be responsible for P water contamination due to its high P sensitivity a
... Show MoreBackground: Legionella pneumophila (L. pneumophila) is gram-negative bacterium, which causes Legionnaires’ disease as well as Pontiac fever. Objective: To determine the frequency of Legionella pneumophila in pneumonic patients, to determine the clinical utility of diagnosing Legionella pneumonia by urinary antigen testing (LPUAT) in terms of sensitivity and specificity, to compares the results obtained from patients by urinary antigen test with q Real Time PCR (RT PCR) using serum samples and to determine the frequency of serogroup 1 and other serogroups of L. pneumophila. Methods: A total of 100 pneumonic patients (community acquired pneumonia) were enrolled in this study during a period between October 2016 to April 2017; 92 sam
... Show MorePurpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the outcomes of 2 different anesthetic techniques (local infiltration vs infraorbital nerve block) for eliminating pain during apical surgeries that are associated with extensive periapical pathology in the anterior maxilla. Materials and Methods: Patients were randomly divided into 2 groups: patients in group I were anesthetized labially by local infiltration injections, whereas those in group II received a single infraorbital nerve block. Palatal injections were given for the 2 groups. Once the pain was initiated during surgery, the procedure was discontinued until profound anesthesia was secured. The studied variables were age, gender, onset of anesthesia, operative time, and intraoperati
... Show More98 samples were collected from various clinical sources included (Burns, wounds, urines, sputums, blood) From the city of Baghdad, After performing the biochemical and microscopic examination, 52 isolates were obtained for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 17 (32.7%) isolates from burn infection, 12 (23%) isolates from Wound infection 11 (21.2%) isolates from urine infection, 7 (13.5%) isolates of sputum and 5 (9.6%) isolates from blood. Bacteria susceptibility to form biofilm has been detectedby microtiter plate method, The results showed that 80% of the bacterial isolates were produced the biofilm with different proportions, alg D gene (alginate production) has been detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) Which plays an essential role in the fo
... Show MoreOvarian cancer has a high mortality and delayed diagnosis. Several immunological alterations take place during ovarian carcinogenesis, and can be of value in the surveillance of the diseases. This research was conducted to evaluate serum immunoglobulin levels in women with ovarian cancer and to assess their role in disease process. The present study is composed of 85 women (mean age = 62.03±12.4 yrs) with clinically and pathologically confirmed ovarian cancer and 65 healthy females as a control group (mean age = 61±12.1 yrs). ELISA test was achieved for the determination of serum [IgG, IgA, IgM]. The findings of current study illustrated significant (P=0.001) increase in serum IgG, IgA, and IgM levels as compared to co
... Show MoreTo evaluate and compare serum Leptin hormone level between Iraqi male & female and the relation between this hormone & BMI in these two groups.
A total of 44 normal male & female subjects were included in this study
{Group 1 : 22 female } , { Group 2 : 22 male}.
Serum Leptin hormone ,BMI &fasting blood glucose were measured for both groups.
Serum Leptin level in group 1 was (8.82 + 2.9 μg/L) where as in group 2 it was (4.65 + 3.2 μg/L) . These changes were statistically significant. Fasting blood glucose levels were technically within the normal value (
... Show MoreBackground: Diabetes mellitus (DM) could be regarded as a set of chronic metabolic disorders which have a common aspect of hyperglycemia. The resistance in the peripheral actions of insulin or impaired insulin secretion could be the reason hepcidin which is a peptide hormone derived from liver, in systemic iron homeostasis is an essential regulator, and its lopsided production participates in the pathogenesis of iron disorders in spectrum. Osteoporosis often accompanies many diseases like ß-thalassemia, hemochromatosis, sickle liver diseases, cell disease and hemosiderosis featured by iron overload, evidences suggest that Iron overload and iron deficiency are suggested by evidences that they affect bone in a negative way, acting
... Show MoreEndothelin-I (ET-I) is one of the potent vasoconstrictors secreted from endothelial cells when needed. Many studies revealed the elevation of serum ET-I with human diabetes and microangiopathies. Since insulin resistance is a case of mixed diabetic and pre-diabetic cases, many risk factors beyond obesity and inflammation are proposed. The current study aims to demonstrate the association between serum ET-I and asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) and insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Sera of 73 subjects were enrolled currently (control= 35 subjects, and 38 with T2DM for more than 7 years), aged (40-60) years old, with distinct body mass index (BMI) ≤ 25 for control volunteers and (BMI) ≥ 25 for obesity and diabetes
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