Interleukin-12B gene polymorphism and visceral Leishmaniasis in Iraqi patients

The present study aimed to determine the role of IL12-1188 genetic polymorphism in susceptibility or resistant to visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) by studying single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the gene of IL12B at position -1188 in 44 Iraqi VL patients and 40 healthy controls. IL-12 serum level showed no significant difference between patients and controls (5.33 ± 3.26 vs.2.17 ± 0.36 pg/ml). In addition, SNP analysis revealed that neither genotypes nor alleles of IL12B-1188 revealed a significant variation between VL patients and controls. To determine the impact of IL12B-1188 genotypes on IL-12 serum level, VL patients and controls were distributed according to their serum level in the three genotypes of this cytokine. It was found that IL12-1188 CC genotype demonstrated a significant increased level of IL-12 (26.16 ±19.76 pg/ml) in patients compared to CA and AA genotype (1.35 ± 0.35 pg/ml and 1.48 ± 0.23 pg/ml respectively) of patients. Keywords: Visceral leishmaniasis, Interleukin-12, Single nucleotide polymorphis

Frequency of HLA Antigens in a Sample of Iraqi Brucellosis Patients

Fifty one patients with serologically confirmed brucellosis and 70 healthy controls were phenotyped for HLA-A, -B, -DR and -DQ antigens by using standard microlympho-cytotoxicity method, and lymphocytes defined by their CD markers (CD3, CD4, CD8 and CD19). The results revealed a significant (Pc = 0.001) increased frequency of HLA-DR8 (41.18 vs. 10.0%) in the patients . A significant increased percentage of CD8+ lymphocytes was also increased in the patients (25.15 vs. 22.0%; P = 0.006), while CD3+ lymphocytes were significantly decreased (75.1 vs. 79.4%; P = 0.02)

Cell Cycle Response to Low Power Laser Irradiation in Jurkat E6.1 T-lymphocyte Cell Line

Low-power laser irradiation (LPLI) effects on cell cycle progression in Jurkat E6.1 T-lymphocyte leukemia (JETL) cells were examined in vitro at 635nm (visible) and 780nm (near infrared) wavelengths. The cells were exposed to an energy density of 9.174 J/cm2, and then examined 24, 48 and 72 hours post-irradiation. Cell cycle analysis by flow cytometry at 24 hours post-irradiation revealed that the three phases (G0/G1, S and G2/M) of cultured JETL cells showed different percentages in LPLI (635nm and 780nm) and unirradiated cultures, but S phase cells were observed with significant increased percentages (55.6 and 55.7%, respectively) compared to controls (37.3%). At 48 hours, again cells at S phase were observed with much higher percentages than control cells (48.2 and 51.5% vs. 29.9%, respectively), and the difference was significant (P ? 0.05). At 72 hours, the S phase cells were also observed with much higher percentages than control cells (33.1 and 32.6% vs. 21.3%, respectively), and the difference was also significant (P ? 0.05). Keywords: Cell cycle, Jurkat E6.1 T-lymphocyte leukemia cell line, Low-power laser irradiation

Biomarker Significance of Serum CXCL8, CXCL10 and CXCL16 in Breast Tumors of Iraqi Patients

قيمت الاهمية الواسم-حياتية لثلاث من الحركيات الكيميائية (CXCL8 وCXCL10 وCXCL16) في مصول 45 من مريضات سرطان الثدي و28 من مريضات ورم الثدي الحميد و20 من نساء السيطرة. واعتمدت المرحلة السريرية وتعبير الورم لمستقبلات Estrogen وProgesterone وعامل النمو الشري HER-2 في هذا التقييم. اظهرت النتائج زيادة معنوية في متوسط CXCL8 وCXCL10 وCXCL16 لمريضات سرطان الثدي ومريضات ورم الثدي الحميد مقارنة بالسيطرة (CXCL8: 47.3 و25.7 مقابل 15.0؛ CXCL10: 37.6 و30.7 مقابل 13.1؛ CXCL16: 27.9 و25.2 مقابل 19.2 بيكوغرام/مل، على التوالي). وكانت زيادة مستوى CXCL8 وCXCL16 اكثر وضوحا في المريضات ثلاثية-سالبة التعبير والموجبة للمستقبل HER-2، على التوالي. اظهر تحليل الانحدار اللوجستي الثنائي اهمية CXCL8 كعامل تنبؤي لسرطان الثدي وان ذلك اكثر وصفا في المريضات ثلاثية سالبة التعبير. وفضلا عن ذلك فقد اظهر تحليل خصائص المستقبل التشغيلية باحتلال CXCL8 مساحة تحت المنحنى قدرها 0.988 في مريضات سرطان الثدي. يمكن الاستنتاج بان CXCL8 ذو اهمية لواسم - حياتي لسرطان الثدي خصوصا عند الاخذ بنظر الاعتبار تعبير الورم لمستقبلات Estrogen وProgesterone وعامل النمو الشري HER-2. وفي هذا الصدد، فان الدراسة تقترح الاهمية التنبؤية للحركي الكيميائي-8 في تطور سرطان الثدي لدى المريضات ثلاثية سالبة التعبير.The biomarker significance of three chemokines (CXCL8, CXCL10 and CXCL16) was evaluated in sera of 45 breast cancer (BC) and 28 benign breast lesion (BBL) patients, as well as 20 control women. Clinical stage and tumor expression of estrogen (ER), progesterone (PgR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2) receptors were considered in this evaluation. The results demonstrated that CXCL8, CXCL10 and CXCL16 showed a significant increased median in BC and BBL patients compared to control (CXCL8: 47.3 and 25.7 vs. 15.0; CXCL10: 37.6 and 30.7 vs. 13.1; CXCL16; 27.9 and 25.2 vs. 19.2 pg/ml, respectively). The increased levels of CXCL8 and CXCL16 were more pronounced in triple-negative and HER-2 positive patients, respectively. Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that CXCL8 was a significant predictor of BC, and such prediction was more depicted in triple-negative patients. The receiver operating characteristic analysis also revealed that CXCL8 recorded an area under curve of 0.998 in BC patients. In conclusion, CXCL8 is a potential biomarker for BC, especially when ER, PgR and HER-2 expression is considered. In this context, the predictive significance of CXCL8 in influencing BC progression is suggested in triple-negative patients

Some Immunological Evaluations of Propolis in Albino Male Mice

Propolis is a complex resinous bee product that has a wide range of biological activities. In the present investigation, two oral doses (10 and 20 mg/kg/day) of propolis (ethanol extract) were evaluated immunologically in albino male mice (80 animals) through three types of experiments. In the first, the propolis was tested alone, while in the second and third experiments, propolis was given before and after the immune suppressive drug MMC (pre- and post treatments, respectively). The three experiments were paralleled with three negative controls, in which the propolis was replaced with distilled water. In the first experiment, the dose 10 mg/kg of propolis enhanced the parameters investigated, and a significant increase was observed in the total count of leucocytes (10.7 vs. 7.8 x 103 cells/cu.mm.blood), lymphocytes (7.0 vs. 5.3 x 103 cells/cu.mm.blood), neutrophils (2.9 vs. 2.1 x 103 cells/cu.mm.blood), monocytes (0.5 vs. 0.3 x 103 cells/cu.mm.blood) and eosinophils (0.3 vs. 0.1 x 103 cells/cu.mm. blood), PI (15.2 vs. 10.8%), PFC (72 vs. 38%), AR (0.84 vs. 0.57 mm) and DTH (0.68 vs. 0.40) as compared to negative controls. Much more enhancements were observed in the dose 20 mg/kg. In the second and third experiments, a similar picture was drawn in the interaction of propolis (pre- and posttreatments) with MMC, in which the propolis extract was able to modulate the immune suppressive effect of MMC, and this was dependent on the type of treatment and dose, and again, the dose 20 mg/kg was more effective in this respect

Interleukin‐39 is a novel cytokine associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus and positively correlated with body mass index

Abstract Introduction It is suggested that cytokines play a key role in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Therefore, this study explored two recently discovered cytokines, interleukin (IL)‐37 (anti‐inflammatory) and IL‐39 (pro‐inflammatory), in T2DM due to limited data in this context. Methods Serum IL‐37 and IL‐39 levels were determined in 106 T2DM patients and 109 controls using enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay kits. Results Serum levels (median and interquartile range) of IL‐37 (79 [47–102] vs. 60 [46–89] ng/L; probability [p] = .04) and IL‐39 (66 [59–69] vs. 31 [19–42] ng/L; p < .001) were significantly elevated in T2DM patients compared to controls. As indicated by the area under the curve (AUC), IL‐39 (AUC = 0.973; p < .001) was more predictable for T2DM than IL‐37 (AUC = 0.582; p = .039). Elevated levels of IL‐39 were significantly associated with T2DM (odds ratio = 1.30; p < .001), while IL‐37 did not show this association. Classification of IL‐37 and IL‐39 levels by demographic and clinical characteristics of patients revealed some significant differences including gender (IL‐39), body mass index (BMI; IL‐37 and IL‐39) and diabetic neuropathy (IL‐39). BMI was positively correlated with IL‐39 (correlation coefficient [rs] = 0.27; p = .005) and glycosylated haemoglobin (rs = 0.31; p = .001), and negatively correlated with age at onset (rs = −0.24; p = .015). Conclusions IL‐37 and IL‐39 levels were elevated in the serum of T2DM patients. Besides, IL‐39 is proposed to be a novel cytokine associated with T2DM and positively correlated with BMI

Studying some Immunological and Hormonal profiles in Infertile Male

The present study was designed to evaluate the immunological status in a sample of Iraqi males with primary infertility and them age range18-55 years, who were attending the Centre of Infertility and in vitro Fertilization (Kamal Al-Samaraie Hospital, Baghdad) during the period December 2008 – April 2009. They were divided into three groups; 40 patients with anti-sperm antibodies (ASA), 20 patients with Asthenozoospermia (AST) and 20 patients with azoospermia (AZO). In adition to20 fertile males was as control group. The parameters of evaluations were standard seminal fluid analysis, anti-sperm antibodies and anti-mitochondrial antibodies in serum, Therefore, two types of samples were collected from each subject; seminal fluid and blood. The following results were obtained: 1. There was a significant (P ? 0.05) decrease count of sperms in ASA (44.6 x 106 sperm/ml) and AST (46.9 x 106 sperm/ml) patients as compared to controls (63.2 x 106 sperm/ml) but the the result with in normal limit. 2. Serum anti-sperm antibodies were positive in 100.% of ASA patients, while in AZO patients, a much lower percentage was observed (25% for serum), and a much lower percentage was observed in controls (5% for serum but these influence were not clear). In contrast, none of the AST patients were positive ASA. These results were positively correlated with the corresponding serum and seminal fluid level, and the highest level was observed in ASA patients (107.6 U/ml). These differences were statistically significant. 3. Serum AMA showed different percentages in ASA, AST and AZO patients and controls (37.5, 25.0 and 20.0, 15.0%, respectively), but these differences were not significant. However, their serum level was significantly increased in ASA patients as compared to controls (11.9 vs. 6.5 U/ml)

Evaluating the Inhibitory Activity of Apigenin Extracted from Salvia officinalis leaves on the Growth of L20B Cancer Cell Line

The study aimed to evaluating the inhibitory activity of apigenin extracted from Salvia officinalis leaves on the growth of L20B cancer cell in vitro, and through two incubation periods; 48 and 72 hours. Accordingly, eight concentrations (1.56, 3.13, 6.25, 12.5, 25.0, 50.0, 100.0 and 200.0 micromol) of apigenin and similar concentrations of vitamin C and carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) were tested. The apigenin revealed its significant inhibitory potentials against the growth of L20B cell line, especially at the low concentrations (1.56, 3.13 and 6.25 micromol) and at 72 incubation period in comparison with vitamin C and CCl4

HLA Class I and Class II Polymorphisms and Anti-nuclear Antibodies in Hyperprolactinaemic Iraqi Females with Primary Infertility

Background: The study was conducted to investigate the association between hyperprolactinaemia and markers of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) system in a sample of Iraqi infertile females, together with the profile anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA). Objectives: One hundred and seventy five female patients (age range: 20 -40 years) were recruited in this study. They were attending the Institute for Embryo Research and Infertility Treatment (Al-Nahrain University) during the period January 2005 - September 2006. Results:After clinical and laboratry evaluations, it was found that 100 patients were hyperprolactinaemic, whereas the other 75 patients were euprolactinaemic, therefore, they were considered as a control group. Based on serum level of prolactin (22-29, 30-39 and ≥ 40 ng/ml), the total hyperprolactinaemic patients were divided into three groups; I (35 patients), II (40 patients) and III (25 patients), respectively. The HLA antigens showed significant variations between patients (total and groups) and controls. In total patients, B8 (25.0 vs. 9.3%), DR3 (48.0 vs. 17.3%) and DR4 (39.0 vs. 13.3%) showed significant increased frequencies, while B35 showed a significant decreased frequency (7.0 vs. 24%). The latter decrease was also observed (5.7 vs. 24.0%) in group I of patients, which also showed a significant increased frequency of DR3 (54.3 vs. 17.3%). In groups II and III of patients, only DR3 (45.0 and 56.0, respectively vs. 17.3%) and DR4 (37.5 and 56.0, respectively vs. 13.3%) showed significant increased frequencies. Autoantibody evaluation by ANA test revealed that 22% of the total patients was positive, while all control subjects were negative, and such positivity paralleled the increased level of serum prolactin