Elevated serum leptin levels in patients with acute myocardial infarction; correlation with coronary angiographic and echocardiographic findings

BACKGROUND: To assess the relationship between serial serum leptin levels in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) who received thrombolysis and the degree of coronary atherosclerosis, coronary reperfusion, echocardiographic findings, and clinical outcome. 51 consecutive patients presenting with AMI were studied. Clinical characteristics including age, sex, body mass index (BMI) and cardiovascular risk factors were recorded. Serial serum leptin levels at the time of admission and subsequently at 0, 6, 12, 24, 36, 60 hours afterwards were obtained. Coronary angiography was performed in 34 patients; the relation between serum leptin levels and evidence of coronary reperfusion as well as the extent of coronary atherosclerosis according to the coronary artery surgery study classification (CASS) were evaluated. Echocardiographic evaluation was performed in all patients. 36 matched patients were enrolled as control group who had serum leptin level 9.4 ± 6.5 ng/ml. RESULTS: The patients mean age was 50.5 ± 10.6 years. There were 47 males and 3 females. 37.1% were diabetics, 23.5% were hypertensive, 21.6% were dyslipidemic and 22.7% were obese (BMI ≥ 30). Leptin concentrations (ng/ml) increased and peaked at the 4th sample (36 hrs) after admission (mean ± SD) sample (1) =9.55 ± 7.4, sample (2) =12.9 ± 8.4, sample (3) =13.8 ± 10.4, sample (4) =18.9 ± 18.1, sample (5) =11.4 ± 6.5, sample (6) =10.8 ± 8.9 ng/ml. There was a significant correlation between serum leptin and BMI (r = 0.342; p = 0.03). Leptin levels correlated significantly to creatine kinase level on the second day (r = 0.43, p ≤ 0.01). Significant correlation of mean serum leptin with the ejection fraction (P < 0.05) was found. No difference in timing of peak serum leptin between patients who achieved coronary reperfusion vs. those who did not (p = 0.8). There was a trend for an increase in the mean serum leptin levels with increasing number of diseased vessels. There was no correlation between serum leptin levels and outcome neither during the hospitalization nor at 9 months follow up. CONCLUSION: Serum leptin levels increase after myocardial infarction. Serum leptin level may be a predictor of the left ventricular ejection fraction and the degree of atherosclerosis but not of coronary reperfusion

Diagnostic study on Herpes simplex-1

The study was planned to evaluate the prevalence of HSV-1 infection, and the use of rhabdomyosarcoma and L20B as cell lines for the primary propagation of human herpes simplex1, by using modern diagnostic techniques. The study was involved in a collection of 60 samples from dermal lesions, randomly selected from a population of ages ranges from 15 to 45 years. These samples were collected during a period extended from February to September 2013. Primarily, these samples were investigated by RT-PCR technique directed to certify human herpes simplex-1 infections. Bosphore® HSV-1&2 Genotyping Kit v1(Anatolia gene works, Turkey) was used for the detection protocol. From a total of 47 HSV-1 positive samples in PCR step, 20 samples were cultured using two cell lines (Rhabdomyosarcoma (RD) and L20B cell lines) in an attempt for virus isolation and evaluation capability of these cells for HSV-1 propagation. Results of applied PCR revealed that HSV-1 DNA was correlated with 47(78.3%) positive of the total cases investigated. In the attempt to HSV-1 isolation, both RD and L20B cell lines demonstrated a specific HSV-1 cytopathic effect. Herpes simplex virus type 1 had been propagated in 19 (95%) of the 20 PCR positive isolates by RD cell line, while 17:20 (85%) HSV-1 isolates were positive on L20B cells. In conclusions: The thermal protocol for Bosphore® HSV-1 Genotyping Kit v1allows very rapid detection of HSV-1 DNA in dermal lesions. It is finding to be laborsaving and shows sufficient sensitivity. The RD and L20B cell lines are efficient as cell lines for the propagation of HSV-1, for that It is well recommended to achieve future therapeutic studies on HSV-1

Effects of Voluntary Work on Psychological and Behavioral Treatment of Individuals in Society

العمل التطوعي هو ممارسة لسلوك ايجابي اجتماعي وشعور بالمسؤولية وأنتماء للمجتمع، يعبر عن طابع مميز وكبير واسع النطاق، مبني على قيم اجتماعية وسلوكيات حميدة مثل الصدق والثقة والتعأون، كونه من الاعمال التي يجد الأفراد فيها أنفسهم ويسعون فيها لتحقيق ذاتهم ومصالحهم. وفي هذه الدراسة تم التركيز على فئة الشباب فهم أفضل المراحل العمرية التي يمكن استقطابها للعمل التطوعي لما له من أبعاد ايجابية سلوكية على المستوى النفسي والروحي والاجتماعي , وتمكن المتطوع من اكتساب خبرات ومهارات جديدة يعود مردودها على سلوكه وشخصيته لتنعكس إيجاباً على مجتمعه.Voluntary work is a practice of positive social behavior, &nbsp;a sense of responsibility and belonging to society. It expresses a distinctive wide-range character, based on social values and benign behaviors such as honesty, trust and cooperation, in this work&nbsp; individuals find themselves and seek to achieve their own interests. In this study, focus&nbsp; on the youth groups are the best age that can be attracted to volunteer work because it has positive behavioral dimensions at the psychological, spiritual and social level. The volunteer is able to acquirement new skills and experiences that return to his behavior and personality to reflect positively on his society

Herat failure and chronic obstructive airway disease as combined comorbidities. Meta-analysis and Review

Background: The existence of COPD and heart failure in elderly population adds additional morbidity and mortality risk than if those with only one of the two comorbidities. The aim of the current metaanalysis was to explore the effect of COPD on heart failure patient in terms of all-cause mortality, cardiac mortality and recurrent heart failure hospitalization.Methods and results: A comprehensive search of PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase and Cochrane was conducted until August 2017. The total standardized mean difference, with 95% (CI), was estimated for&nbsp; fixed and random effects models to present “pooled effect” for continuous outcomes (mean ± standard deviation or median ± interquartile range) &amp; categorical outcomes (Odds risk OR). Statistical heterogeneity among studies was assessed with Cochran’s Q test and the I2 statistic.</p

Contribution of the Zubair source rocks to the generation and expulsion of oil to the reservoirs of the Mesopotamian Basin, Southern Iraq

The huge quantities of oil and gas reserved in the fields of southern Iraq must be matched by enough source rocks that can generate and expel equivalent amounts of hydrocarbons. This study is an attempt to evaluate the potential and efficiency of the Zubair Formation strata as potential source rocks that contributed to the hydrocarbon budget. A Multiproxy investigation including TOC, pyrolysis, palynofacies, carbon isotope and biomarker analysis were used to investigate such possibility. Results indicate that Zubair rocks were ranging from poor to excellent source rocks, early to moderate maturity, and generated and expelled much hydrocarbons to the Cretaceous reservoirs of the Basin

Elevated serum leptin levels in patients with acute myocardial infarction; correlation with coronary angiographic and echocardiographic findings

Abstract Background To assess the relationship between serial serum leptin levels in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) who received thrombolysis and the degree of coronary atherosclerosis, coronary reperfusion, echocardiographic findings, and clinical outcome. 51 consecutive patients presenting with AMI were studied. Clinical characteristics including age, sex, body mass index (BMI) and cardiovascular risk factors were recorded. Serial serum leptin levels at the time of admission and subsequently at 0, 6, 12, 24, 36, 60 hours afterwards were obtained. Coronary angiography was performed in 34 patients; the relation between serum leptin levels and evidence of coronary reperfusion as well as the extent of coronary atherosclerosis according to the coronary artery surgery study classification (CASS) were evaluated. Echocardiographic evaluation was performed in all patients. 36 matched patients were enrolled as control group who had serum leptin level 9.4 ± 6.5 ng/ml. Results The patients mean age was 50.5 ± 10.6 years. There were 47 males and 3 females. 37.1% were diabetics, 23.5% were hypertensive, 21.6% were dyslipidemic and 22.7% were obese (BMI ≥ 30). Leptin concentrations (ng/ml) increased and peaked at the 4th sample (36 hrs) after admission (mean ± SD) sample (1) =9.55 ± 7.4, sample (2) =12.9 ± 8.4, sample (3) =13.8 ± 10.4, sample (4) =18.9 ± 18.1, sample (5) =11.4 ± 6.5, sample (6) =10.8 ± 8.9 ng/ml. There was a significant correlation between serum leptin and BMI (r = 0.342; p = 0.03). Leptin levels correlated significantly to creatine kinase level on the second day (r = 0.43, p ≤ 0.01). Significant correlation of mean serum leptin with the ejection fraction (P p = 0.8). There was a trend for an increase in the mean serum leptin levels with increasing number of diseased vessels. There was no correlation between serum leptin levels and outcome neither during the hospitalization nor at 9 months follow up. Conclusion Serum leptin levels increase after myocardial infarction. Serum leptin level may be a predictor of the left ventricular ejection fraction and the degree of atherosclerosis but not of coronary reperfusion.</p

Microscopical and phylogenetic analysis of Theileria annulata in Iraqi local breed cattle

The development of cattle industry in Iraq and its neighboring countries may be hampered by Theileria annulata (T. annulata) infection. In the present work, the cytochrome b gene (cyt-b) sequences were used to infer the phylogenetic relationships of T. annulata. Fifty blood samples collected randomly from 10 farms of Iraqi local breed cattle in Al-Diwaniyah province were analyzed for piroplasm using microscopic and molecular techniques. Microscopic examination revealed that 37 (74%) of the 50 blood samples examined were infected. In addition, the PCR test showed that 23 (62.2%) of the 37 blood samples (which tested positive (microscopically) were positive. The analysis of the cyt-b 1092 bp gene of T. annulata reported the presence of six genetically related clones. These six clones have been deposited in GenBank as [ON706262, ON706263, ON706264, ON706265, ON706266, and ON706267], and when compared to the T. annulata cyt-b gene (XM949625) from the GenBank database, a unique polymorphism at sixteen sites was discovered. Furthermore, the alignment of our amino acid sequences with the reference sequence reveals thirteen non-synonymous mutations in codons 11, 22, 33, 63, 103, 128, 130, 129, 172,178, and 190, and three silent mutations in codons 124, 128, and 275. Moreover, phylogenetically, our study clones were related to Iraqi, Indian, and Turkish clones. In conclusion, depending on the phylogenetic analysis the current study identified six T. annulata parasite isolates in Iraqi local breed cattle that were genetically related to the Indian, Iraqi, and Turkish clones