Publications by authors named "Hussein Kadhem Al-Hakeim"

The search for new parameters for the prediction of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) or its harmful consequences remains an important field of study. Depending on the low-grade inflammatory nature of diabetes, we investigated three proteins in T2DM patients: 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase (ACCS), granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), and Sma Mothers Against Decapentaplegic homolog-4 (SMAD4). In brief, sixty T2DM and thirty healthy controls had their serum levels of ACCS, G-CSF, SMAD4, and insulin tested using the ELISA method.

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  • - The study identified two subgroups of schizophrenia patients using machine learning: major neurocognitive psychosis (MNP), characterized by severe cognitive deficits, negative symptoms, and various behavioral issues, and simpler neurocognitive psychosis (SNP), which is less severe.
  • - A sample of 40 healthy controls and 90 schizophrenia patients was analyzed using Soft Independent Modelling of Class Analogy (SIMCA) to differentiate these subgroups based on neurocognitive tests and immune biomarkers.
  • - Results showed significant differences between MNP and SNP, with MNP exhibiting distinct features like reduced motor speed, activated T helper-17 response, and impaired cognitive functions, suggesting a need for targeted biomarker research in each subgroup. *
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Background: The complex effects of Long-COVID, a syndrome marked by enduring symptoms after COVID-19 infection, with an emphasis on patients' differing degrees of fibro fatigue (FF). Electrolyte disturbances may affect the severity of FF and may be used as a predictive tool for severe FF in Long-COVID patients.

Objective: The aim is to use the electrolyte levels for prediction of the Long-COVID patients with high FF levels.

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  • Chronic Methamphetamine use is linked to oxidative stress and neurocognitive impairments, but the relationship between biological changes and cognitive deficits remains unclear.
  • The study involved 67 participants, comparing 40 with MA use to 27 controls, assessing cognitive performance and various oxidative stress biomarkers.
  • Results indicated that increased oxidative toxicity and fewer antioxidant defenses significantly contributed to cognitive decline in MA users, suggesting new targets for preventing related psychosis and cognitive issues.
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Background: Transfusion-dependent thalassemia (TDT) is a severe form of beta-thalassemia, characterized by defective-globin production, resulting in a buildup of unpaired alpha globin chains. Patients with TDT can only survive if they receive safe blood transfusions regularly, which causes iron overload in their blood, which causes a variety of disorders. Cations and trace elements in TDT patients as a drug target deserve more studies.

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  • ESRD is linked to various biochemical and neuropsychiatric changes, particularly involving neuronal damage biomarkers like GFAP, NFL, S100B, and others, which have not been extensively researched.
  • The study aims to explore connections between these neuro-axis biomarkers, inflammatory markers such as CRP and interleukins, and neuropsychiatric symptoms in ESRD patients.
  • Results indicate that ESRD patients show higher levels of neuropsychiatric symptoms and certain biomarkers, with factors like kidney function and dialysis frequency correlating with the severity of these symptoms and inflammatory responses.
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Preeclampsia (PE) is a pregnancy-related disorder characterized by high blood pressure and proteinuria in the third trimester. The disease is associated with many metabolic and biochemical changes. There is a need for new biomarkers for diagnosis and follow-up.

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Methamphetamine (MA)-induced psychosis (MIP) is associated with increased oxidative toxicity (especially lipid peroxidation) and lowered antioxidant defences. Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) cause oxidative stress upon ligand binding to AGE receptors (RAGEs). There is no data on whether MA use may cause AGE-RAGE stress or whether the latter is associated with MIP.

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This study examines whether activation of the tryptophan catabolite (TRYCAT) pathway is associated with anxiety symptoms due to Long COVID. We selected 90 participants, 60 Long COVID patients and 30 individuals without any symptoms following acute COVID-19 infection. Using cluster analysis and the Hamilton Anxiety Rating scale (HAMA) score, the pure HAMA anxiety score, serum tryptophan (TRP) and kynurenine (KYN), the KYN/TRP ratio (all measured during Long COVID), and oxygen saturation (SpO2) (measured during the acute phase of COVID-19), we were able to classify Long COVID patients into two distinct clusters with an adequate silhouette cohesion and separation index (0.

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Article Synopsis
  • Critical COVID-19 is linked to low plasma tryptophan (TRY) and an increase in neuroactive tryptophan catabolites (TRYCATs), particularly kynurenine (KYN), which have not been thoroughly investigated in Long COVID symptoms.
  • In a study of 90 Long COVID patients, researchers identified a subset (22%) with severe symptoms, characterized by low TRY levels, high KYN, and correlations with inflammation markers like C-reactive protein (CRP).
  • The findings suggest that both physiosomatic and affective symptoms in Long COVID are connected and can be influenced by inflammatory responses from the acute infection, highlighting the roles of CRP, KYN/TRY ratio, and insulin resistance
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Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterized by elevated activity of peripheral neuro-immune and neuro-oxidative pathways, which may cause neuro-affective toxicity by disrupting neuronal circuits in the brain. No study has explored peripheral indicators of neuroaxis damage in MDD in relation to serum inflammatory and insulin resistance (IR) biomarkers, calcium, and the physio-affective phenome consisting of depressive, anxious, chronic fatigue, and physiosomatic symptoms.

Methods: Serum levels of phosphorylated tau protein 217 (P-tau217), platelet-derived growth factor receptor beta (PDGFR), neurofilament light chain (NF-L), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), C-reactive protein (CRP), calcium and the HOMA2-insulin resistance (IR) index were measured in 94 MDD patients and 47 controls.

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  • The study investigates the relationship between long COVID, insulin resistance (IR), and depressive symptoms, noting significant correlations between increased peak body temperature and decreased blood oxygen levels as predictors of these symptoms.
  • A cohort of 86 long COVID patients was compared to 39 control subjects, using various assessments like the Homeostasis Model Assessment for insulin metrics and depression scales.
  • Findings reveal that long COVID is linked to heightened IR and insulin levels, with a notable proportion of patients showing signs of insulin resistance, suggesting that increased IR may contribute to the development of depressive symptoms in long COVID by worsening neurotoxicity.
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Background: Long-term coronavirus disease 2019 (long COVID) is associated with physio-somatic (chronic fatigue syndrome and somatic symptoms) and affective (depression and anxiety) symptoms. The severity of the long COVID physio-affective phenome is largely predicted by increased peak body temperature (BT) and lowered oxygen saturation (SpO2) during the acute infectious phase. This study aims to delineate whether the association of BT and SpO2 during the acute phase and the long COVID physio-affective phenome is mediated by neurotoxicity (NT) resulting from activated immune-inflammatory and oxidative stress pathways.

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Schizophrenia patients show increased disabilities and lower quality of life (DisQoL). Nevertheless, there are no data on whether the activation of the interleukin (IL)-6, IL-23, T helper (Th)-17 axis, and lower magnesium and calcium levels impact DisQoL scores. This study recruited 90 patients with schizophrenia (including 40 with deficit schizophrenia) and 40 healthy controls and assessed the World Health Association QoL instrument-Abbreviated version and Sheehan Disability scale, Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS), IL-6, IL-23, IL-17, IL-21, IL-22, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, magnesium and calcium.

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Background: a significant percentage of methamphetamine (MA) dependent patients develop psychosis. The associations between oxidative pathways and MA-induced psychosis (MIP) are not well delineated.

Objective: the aim of this study is to delineate whether acute MA intoxication in MA dependent patients is accompanied by increased nitro-oxidative stress and whether the latter is associated with MIP.

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The immune-inflammatory response during the acute phase of COVID-19, as assessed using peak body temperature (PBT) and peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2), predicts the severity of chronic fatigue, depression and anxiety symptoms 3-4 months later. The present study was performed to examine the effects of SpO2 and PBT during acute infection on immune, oxidative and nitrosative stress (IO&NS) pathways and neuropsychiatric symptoms of Long COVID. This study assayed SpO2 and PBT during acute COVID-19, and C-reactive protein (CRP), malondialdehyde (MDA), protein carbonyls (PCs), myeloperoxidase (MPO), nitric oxide (NO), zinc, and glutathione peroxidase (Gpx) in 120 Long COVID individuals and 36 controls.

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Background: Schizophrenia and especially deficit schizophrenia (DSCZ) are characterized by increased activity of neuroimmunotoxic pathways and a generalized cognitive decline (G-CoDe). There is no data on whether the interleukin (IL)-6/IL-23/T helper 17 (IL-6/IL-23/Th17)-axis is more associated with DSCZ than with non-deficit schizophrenia (NDSCZ) and whether changes in this axis are associated with the G-CoDe and the phenome (a factor extracted from all symptom domains) of schizophrenia.

Methods: This study included 45 DSCZ and 45 NDSCZ patients and 40 controls and delineated whether the IL-6/IL-23/Th17 axis, trace elements (copper, zinc) and ions (magnesium, calcium) are associated with DSCZ, the G-CoDe and the schizophrenia phenome.

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Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated with increased atherogenicity and inflammatory responses, which may be related to high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) and Dickkopf-related protein 1 (DKK1). The role of HMGB1 and DKK1 in T2DM is examined in association with lipid and insulin profiles. Serum HMGB1 and DKK1 were measured in T2DM with and without hypertension and compared with controls.

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Background: Long coronavirus disease 2019 (LC) is a chronic sequel of acute COVID-19. The exact pathophysiology of the affective, chronic fatigue and physiosomatic symptoms (labelled as "physio-affective phenome") of LC has remained elusive.

Objective: The current study aims to delineate the effects of oxygen saturation (SpO2) and body temperature during the acute phase on the physio-affective phenome of LC.

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The physio-affective phenome of Long COVID-19 is predicted by (a) immune-inflammatory biomarkers of the acute infectious phase, including peak body temperature (PBT) and oxygen saturation (SpO2), and (b) the subsequent activation of immune and oxidative stress pathways during Long COVID. The purpose of this study was to delineate the effects of PBT and SpO2 during acute infection, as well as the increased neurotoxicity on the physical, psychological, social and environmental domains of health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) in people with Long COVID. We recruited 86 participants with Long COVID and 39 normal controls, assessed the WHO-QoL-BREF (World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument-Abridged Version, Geneva, Switzerland) and the physio-affective phenome of Long COVID (comprising depression, anxiety and fibromyalgia-fatigue rating scales) and measured PBT and SpO2 during acute infection, and neurotoxicity (NT, comprising serum interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-18 and caspase-1, advanced oxidation protein products and myeloperoxidase, calcium and insulin resistance) in Long COVID.

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Background: Patients with transfusion-dependent thalassemia (TDT) show disorders in calcium metabolism. The α-Klotho protein is predominantly expressed in tissues that are involved in calcium homeostasis, and lowered levels are associated with bone disease. The aim of the study is to examine the associations between low α-Klotho status and calcium metabolism in relation to iron status in children with TDT.

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Background: End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is associated with fatigue and physiosomatic symptoms.

Objective: The objective of this study is to delineate the associations between severity of fatigue and physio-somatic symptoms and glomerular filtration rate, inflammatory biomarkers, and Wnt/cateninpathway proteins.

Methods: The Wnt-pathway related proteins β-catenin, Dickkopf-related protein 1 (DKK1), R-spondin- 1, and sclerostin were measured by ELISA technique in 60 ESRD patients and 30 controls.

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Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory and autoimmune disorder which affects the joints in the wrists, fingers, and knees. RA is often associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms as well as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)-like symptoms. This paper examines the association between depressive symptoms (measured with the Beck Depression Inventory, BDI), anxiety (Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, HAMA), CFS-like (Fibro-fatigue Scale) symptoms and immune-inflammatory, autoimmune, and endogenous opioid system (EOS) markers, and lactosylcer-amide (CD17) in RA.

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