Association Between the Quality of Life Domains with Anthropometric and Adiposity Indices in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Cross-Sectional Study from a Single Centre in Erbil-Iraq.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the association between the anthropometric/adiposity indices or ratios with the status of quality of life (QoL) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.

Methods: This study was carried out in the Rizgary Teaching Hospital in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq between 1 December 2021 and 31 March 2022. Seventy-five women with a mean value of 11.

Interaction between inflammatory bowel disease, physical activity, and myokines: Assessment of serum irisin levels.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, showed a wide spectrum of intestinal and extra-intestinal manifestations, which rendered the patients physically inactive and impaired their quality of life. It has been found that physical activity is a non-pharmacological intervention that improves the quality of life for those patients. Irisin is one member of the myokines secreted by muscle contraction during exercise and could be used as an anti-inflammatory biomarker in assessing the physical activity of IBD patients.

Plateletcrit is a Useful Marker in the Quality of Life Assessment of Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Cross-Sectional Study from Erbil, Iraq.

Background: In patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), hematological indices and ratios have been reported to be related to the severity of illness, and thus could potentially be useful determinants of quality of life (QoL).

Objective: To evaluate the association between hematological indices or ratios, which serve as biomarkers of disease activity, and the QoL of RA patients.

Materials And Methods: This study was carried out in the Rizgary Teaching Hospital in the Kurdistan region of Iraq between December 01, 2021, and March 31, 2022.

Comparative modeling and enzymatic affinity of novel haloacid dehalogenase from strain BHS1 isolated from alkaline Blue Lake in Turkey.

This study presents the initial structural model of L-haloacid dehalogenase (DehLBHS1) from BHS1, an alkalotolerant bacterium known for its ability to degrade halogenated environmental pollutants. The model provides insights into the structural features of DehLBHS1 and expands our understanding of the enzymatic mechanisms involved in the degradation of these hazardous pollutants. Key amino acid residues (Arg40, Phe59, Asn118, Asn176, and Trp178) in DehLBHS1 were identified to play critical roles in catalysis and molecular recognition of haloalkanoic acid, essential for efficient binding and transformation of haloalkanoic acid molecules.

Concomitant dysregulation of androgen secretion and dysfunction of adipose tissue induced insulin resistance.

Hyperandrogenism and hyperinsulinemia have resulted from dysfunction of the theca cell of the ovary and adipose tissue and each one potentiates the other in patients with androgen excess disorders polycystic ovary disease and idiopathic hirsutism. Possible external and/or internal triggers can produce such cellular dysfunction. There is evidence that sodium valproate acts as a trigger of cellular dysfunction and produces both hyperinsulinemia and hyperandrogenism.

The effect of Ultraviolet-B irradiation on the photodegradation of ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin as inhibitors of bacterial DNA replication and cell division in urea medium.

Ciprofloxacin hydrochloride and Norfloxacin are second-generation fluoroquinolone antibiotic against bacterial DNA gyrase, which reduces DNA strain throughout replication. As DNA gyrase is essential through DNA replication, subsequent DNA synthesis and cell division are inhibited. Direct photolysis of fluoroquinolones was studied by using UV irradiation in the presence or absence of other substances that generate free radicals.

A preliminary report about the detection of ventricular repolarisation in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Objectives: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a multisystem disease which can affect the cardiovascular system as well. We conducted this study to determine the cardiac effects of NAFLD such as conduction of impulse and ventricular repolarisation on electrocardiography (ECG).

Methods: In this study, we recruited patients with risk factors for NAFLD (group I; n = 23) and NAFLD patients (group II; n = 74) from Shar Hospital in Sulaimani City, Iraq.

The Benefit of Prescribing Vitamin D as Add on Therapy on the Electrocardiographic Changes in Epileptic Patients.

Background: Epileptic children and adolescent have a significantly low serum level of vitamin D due to the effect of antiepileptic drugs on the vitamin D metabolism. Those patients are at risk of cardiovascular events.

Objective: This study aimed to show that epileptic patients who treated with antiepileptic drugs supplemented with vitamin D are free from the electrocardiograph changes compared with those treated with antiepileptic drugs.

Epileptic Patients are at Risk of Cardiac Arrhythmias: A Novel Approach using QT-nomogram, Tachogram, and Cardiac Restitution Plots.

Background: Sudden death is reported in patients who had a history of epilepsy and some authors believed that is due to cardiac arrhythmias.

Objectives: This study aimed to predict that the epileptic patients are at risk of serious cardiac arrhythmias by QT-nomogram, tachogram (Lorenz), and cardiac restitution plots.

Methods: A total number of 71 healthy subjects (Group I) and 64 newly diagnosed epileptic patients (Group II) were recruited from Al-Yarmouk and Baghdad Teaching hospitals in Baghdad from March 2015 to July 2015 and included in this study.

Saliva C-reactive protein as a biomarker of metabolic syndrome in diabetic patients.

Background: Human C-reactive protein (CRP) has been used in the risk assessment of coronary events. Human saliva mirrors the body's health and well-being and is noninvasive, easy to collect, and ideal for third-world countries as well as for large patient screening.

Aims: This study aimed to screen the saliva CRP qualitatively in patients with diabetes (Type 1 and 2) taking in considerations, the diagnostic criteria of metabolic syndrome.

Antiproliferative effects of aspirin and diclofenac against the growth of cancer and fibroblast cells: In vitro comparative study.

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) inhibit the growth of several cancer cell lines. The aim of this study is to compare the cytotoxic effect of aspirin with diclofenac on the growth of HeLa cell, mammary cell carcinoma, rhabdomyosarcoma and fibroblast cell lines in the culture media. The cells are cultured in RPMI-1640 culture media supplemented with 5% fetal calf serum and antibiotics.

Assessment of Serum Cystatin C Levels in Newly Diagnosed Acute Myocardial Infarction at the Onset and at the Time of Hospital Discharge.

Background: Cystatin C (Cys-C) is a marker of renal damage. Higher serum levels of Cys-C were observed in cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to test the null hypothesis that Cys-C levels in newly diagnosed acute myocardial infarction (AMI) may remain high in the survival and the impact of the cardiometabolic risk factors is small.

Saliva α-Synuclein and A High Extinction Coefficient Protein: A Novel Approach in Assessment Biomarkers of Parkinson's Disease.

Background: The pathological hallmark of Parkinson's disease (PD) is the appearance of intracytoplasmic inclusions known as Lewy bodies in which its principal component is α-synuclein.

Aim: This study aimed to determine salivary α-synuclein and the extinction coefficient of the saliva protein as biomarkers of PD.

Materials And Methods: This observational study was done in Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine in cooperation with Department of Oral Medicine, College of Dentistry at Al-Mustansiriya University in Baghdad, Iraq from September 2013 to March 2014.

Assessment of nitrogen radicals and their scavenging activity in patients with end-stage renal failure.

Reactive oxygen species are implicated in cardiovascular disease in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF). This study is aimed to assess the nitrogen radicals in patients with end-stage renal failure (ESRF) referred for peritoneal dialysis. A total of 36 patients with estimated creatinine clearance ≤ 15 mL/min were recruited from the Dialysis Unit at Al-Yarmouk Teaching Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq during 2009, and enrolled into the study.

Role of nitrosative and oxidative stress in neuropathy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Objectives: Evidences of oxidative and/or nitrosative stress in type 2 diabetes mellitus were demonstrated in experimental and human studies. This study is aimed to assess the serum peroxynitrite and oxidized lipoproteins in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus presented with clinical and laboratory evidences of peripheral neuropathy.

Materials And Methods: Eighty four patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (51 of them had neuropathy) and 31 apparent healthy subjects were studied in the unit of neurophysiology at the University Hospital of Medical College, Al-Nahrin University in Baghdad, Iraq.

Significant beneficial effect of AT-1 receptor blockers (sartans) in stroke.

Hypertension is the most important controllable and modifiable risk factor for stroke. The relationship between blood pressure and stroke mortality is strong and linear. Angiotensin receptor blockers (sartans) are competitive pharmacological antagonists of angiotensin II receptors, and some of them are approved for use in the treatment of hypertension.

Assessment of nitrosative stress and lipid peroxidation activity in asymptomatic exposures to medical radiation: The bystander effect of ionizing radiation.

Background: Adaptive response and bystander effect are two important phenomena involved in biological responses to ionizing radiation.

Aims: To determine the bystander effect of ionizing radiation in medical exposures by measuring the serum nitric oxide (NO•), peroxynitrite (ONOO•), and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-five medical staff working in the Unit of Radiology and 15 medical staff working in other departments at the Al-Yarmouk teaching hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, were enrolled in the study.

Nitrostative stress status during seasonal and pdmH1N1 infection in Iraq.

Introduction: Influenza A virus infection is associated with oxidative and nitrosative stress. This study aimed to assess nitrosative stress in pandemic H1N1 (pdmH1N1) and seasonal influenza A infected patients.

Methodology: The study included the following subjects:  20 patients infected with seasonal (negative one-step probe RT-PCR) influenza and 12 patients infected with pdmH1N1 (positive, one-step probe RT-PCR) influenza during the 2009 pandemic in Iraq.

Dyslipidemia as a contributory factor in etiopathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy.

Objectives: The pathogenesis of neuropathy in type 2 diabetes mellitus is multifactorial.Dyslipidemia may contribute to the development of diabetic neuropathy. This study aimed to assess the atherogenic lipid indices in type 2 diabetic patients with neuropathy.

Rofecoxib prevents ctdsDNA against damage induced by copper sulfate and ultraviolet B radiation in vitro study.

Rofecoxib is a selective cyclooxygenase COX-2 enzyme inhibitor with chemoprotective effect against cancer in experimental models. This study aimed to investigate the effect of rofecoxib against ctds DNA damage induced by copper ions or ultraviolet (UV)B radiation. Aliquot ctdsDNA samples were incubated with copper sulfate solution (50 nmol) and rofecoxib (0.