A study of diabetic retinopathy in type 2 diabetic patients and its relation with diabetic progression

      The study aimed to investigate the diabetic retinopathy in type 2 diabetic patients and its relation with the glycemic control represented with the glycatedhaemoglobin (HbA1c). The study performed in the diabetic and endocrinology center at Al-Sader medical city in Al-Najaf Al-Ashraf. The study included 102 subjects, divided into a (10) healthy subjects ascontrol group  and  two groups  of diabetic patients attended to  the diabetic and endocrinology center at Al-Sader medical city and diagnosed as type 2 diabetic patients, divided into two groups with and without retinopathy. The type of retinopathy was determined by physicians, there are three retinopathy subtypes: diabetic retinopathy in early stages, proliferative retinopathy and macular edema.Most DR patients were in early stages of retinopathy 37.25%,  proliferative diabetic retinopathy 11.76%, and macular edema 11.76%.The results shows a significant increase of diabetic retinopathy DR prevalence with increasing diabetic duration, the incidence of  DR was highest in patients of 15-20 years of diabetes mellitus,and the highest were the proliferative , then macular edema 12.33 ± 18.6 and 14.16 ± 2.32 respectively. The level of fasting plasma glucose among control, DM and DR groups increased significantly (P < 0.05), while there was no significant differences (P < 0.05) in FPG levels between these subtypes of DR.     The HbA1c was significantly highest (P<0.05 )in DM and DR (6.65% ± 0.29 and 8.025 ± 0.19 respectively) when compared with 5.73% ± 0.18 in the control group. According to the successive HbA1c percentiles,the early stages of DR were found in all levels of  HbA1c, but the highest incidence were in the highest levels. Also proliferative DR begin to appear at 7-7.5 % of HbA1c, andits highest incidence were at 7.5 – 8 %.  Macular edema increased at 7-7.5% and at levels highest than 10.5 %.There was a significant decrease in  body mass index BMI in DR patients when compared with other groups, and a significant decrease in BMI in proliferative DR and macular edema when compared with the control.The study concluded that there is a critical need to perform a periodical check to diabetic patients to diagnose the retinopathy in its early appearance, and to use the glycosylated haemoglobin as measurement periodically to detect any increase or fluctuation in this parameter  to control the glycemic state in these patients

Interleukin-6 level is a powerful predictor of risk for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) among Iraqi patients: A pilot study

Background: Several studies demonstrate the existence of cytokine dysregulation in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), which may be associated with pathogenesis, disease progression, and patient survival. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of IL-6 levels and the risk of AML among Iraqi patients. &nbsp;Methods: A case-control study was carried out to analyze IL-6 levels in the serum of 60 patients with AML and a healthy control group. In this study, AML patients were divided into two groups: 30 AML before receiving treatment and 30 AML after receiving treatment. A variety of biochemical and anthropometric measurements, such as sex and age, BMI, serum IL-6, ALT, AST, urea, and creatinine levels, were examined in this study. Results: With regard to the patient group, the BMI, RBC, WBC, Hb, Lymphocytes, neutrophils, platelets, serum ALT, AST, urea, and creatinine levels revealed a significant difference compared with the control group.&nbsp;&nbsp