Derbendikhan reservoir is located on the south east of Sulaimani province between longitude 35° 6' 35"N and latitude, 45° 41' 20" E, and it is the second largest reservoir in the Iraqi Kurdistan region at an altitude of about 485 m above sea level. More than twenty genera of fishes are endemic to this reservoir, Silurus triostegus is one of them, which was selected to determine the amount of heavy metals that accumulated in the muscle tissue. The results revealed that the metals were accumulated in the following descending order (Fe

This study was designed to assess the effect of pregnancy on liver function tests (LFTs) and to identify the variations between these LFTs during different gestational period. The present study include seven parameters: serum liver enzymes (AST, ALT, ALP, AST/ALT ratio) and bilirubin (total, direct and indirect) had been measured in blood of 50 healthy nonpregnant women, their age was ranged between (17-40) years as a control group and in 150 apparently healthy pregnant women their aged between (16-41) years. Pregnant women were divided into three subgroups according to their gestational period: 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd trimesters (50 pregnant for each trimester of pregnancy). The results recorded a non significant difference in AST activity in all trimesters compared with control group, while serum ALT activity showed a significant reduction during pregnancy trimesters as compared with control group. The serum ALP activity show a significant increase as gestational period progress. However, the result of AST/ALT ratio showed no significant difference with the increase in the gestational period. Finally, serum total, direct and indirect bilirubin were all non significantly difference in all trimesters when compared with control (except the significant decrease in the comparison of total bilirubin in the 3 rd trimester with control group).

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Background: Leptin is a hormone secreted by adipocytes , it is aprotein encoded by the ob gene. Mutations in the ob gene in animals cause obesity , leptin affects nutritional homeostasis and reproductive function. Objectives : a followup study was done to investigate serum leptin levels in 30 fertile healthy normal weight women with regular menstrual cycle aged (8-45) years in folicular and luteal phase of menstrual cycle. Methods: Fasting blood samples were obtained from normal weight fertile women(BMI 19.5-24.9 Kg/m 2) to measurement serum concentrations of leptin, which measured by using(ELISA) in follicular phase (2 nd day of menstriual cycle) then ask the women to come back and give another blood sample in 21 st-23 nd day of the cycle to measure serum progesterone and leptin in luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. Results: The mean age ± SD of the normal fertile women was (29.1± 8.4) years, the mean weight value ±SD was (53±5)kg and the mean height value±SD was(158 ± 6.2) cm and the mean BMI±SD was (21.2± 1.3). Leptin was higher in luteal phase than follicular phase in normal weight fertile women ,this was statistically significant (p≤ 0.000), the mean ± SD of progesterone hormone was (7.8 ± 3.2) in day 21-23 of the cycle this was the indicator for ovulation and starting of luteal phase. Conclusion: A great variation in serum leptin levels throughout the menstrual cycles with lower levels in the follicular rather than luteal phase in normal weight fertile women is found.

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