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Abstract:The majority of patients with Lupus Nephritis (LN) usually have abnormal findings of kidney function tests. Severe glomerular damage may be observed in some patients and requires prompt therapeutic interventions. High titer levels of anti-ds-DNA antibodies may correlate to some extent with disease activity in lupus nephritis patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between anti-ds-DNA antibody titers and abnormal kidney function tests in patients with lupus nephritis. A total of seventy patients with lupus nephritis and fifty healthy controls were enrolled in this study. Blood samples were collected and labeled from study patients and controls for certain hematological, biochemical and immunological investigations. Anti-ds-DNA antibodies were tested by using IgG-ELISA test. It was shown that 74% of lupus nephritis patients showed positive results for anti-ds-DNA antibodies in their serum specimens (p-value <0.01). Sensitivity and specificity of the anti-ds-DNA antibody test for the diagnosis of lupus nephritis were 74 and 100%, respectively. Anaemia, hypoalbuminemia, fasting hyperglycemia and elevated blood urea nitrogen were significantly associated with lupus nephritis activity. Further studies are required to study genomic and unprecedented biomarkers associated with anti-ds-DNA antibodies in patients with lupus nephritis to develop our perception of this autoimmune disease.

Objective : The present study is aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of short wave diathermy andultrasound therapy for the management of patients with knee osteoarthritisMethodology : all patients who referred to the Medical Rehabilitation Unit in Baghdad TeachingHospital and Sadr A!-Qanat Center. The period of the study was from October 2004 to April 2005, totalnumber of patients was 24 (9 male and 15 female). Age range of patients was 42-70 years. Completeclinical and radiological examinations were achieved on all patients and referred to the MedicalRehabilitation Unit for physiotherapy. Short wave diathermy and ultrasound therapy were applied onall patients.Results : Demographic distribution revealed that female gender, the ages more than 50 year, the weightwith grade II obesity were the most affected. Clinical observations indicated that chronic and severecases were the most obvious. The study revealed that deformity, muscle wasting, local inflammation,and effusion were recorded in most patients. Outcomes of treatment with short wave and ultrasoundtherapies were nearly equally regarding their well-effectiveness, patient's acceptance, and patient'simprovement. It was concluded that the ultrasound therapy is more preferable than short wavediathermy in the management of oedema accompanying chronic knee osteoarthritis. Recommendation :Further cohort studies are required to evaluate the effects of these procedures on a large sample ofpatients

Several studies have indicated that asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) is a frequent condition in diabetics and may lead to more severe urinary tract infections (UTIs). This study was conducted to determine the frequency of ASB in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus as well as the identification of the bacterial etiology of ASB in addition to the antibiotic sensitivity profile in a group of Iraqi patients. A total of 100 individuals were included in this study, 50 diabetic outpatients and 50 non-diabetics as a control group. Mid-stream urine specimens were collected from patients and tested using the urine dipstick test, microscopy and culture tests. It was shown that 90% of diabetic patients were culture positive and 10% were culture negative for bacteria. On the other hand, it was observed that 90% of non-diabetics had no bacterial growth in their urine specimens. The most isolated organisms were Staphylococcus aureus (34%), Enterobacter aerogenes (28%), and Klebsiella spp (10%). It was observed that S. aureus was completely resistant to ampicillin (100%), while only 30% of these isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin. It was noted that S. aureus was the most isolated in the study, which is a clear change in the spectrum of the causative agent of these cases. Given the high prevalence of ASB in patients with type 2 diabetes, this study recommends that the diagnostic program for diabetic patients should include bacterial culture of their urine specimens to determine the antimicrobial resistance of isolated bacteria.

The aim of the study was to identify characteristic risk factors predisposing to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in a group of Iraqi patients in Baghdad City.  In this study, we included a total of 13411 persons who had been tested for COVID-19, supervised by Al-Razi Medical Center in Baghdad City during the period from June 20 to November 13, 2020. Cases were tested and divided into two groups according to the result of real-time RT-PCR test for COVID-19.   A total of 1781 positive cases were detected with confirmed COVID-19. Comorbidities in the study patients were identified as hypertension, diabetes mellitus and respiratory disorders. Hypertension was the most common comorbidity in COVID-19 patients followed by diabetes mellitus.  The results of this study showed that patients with comorbidities were significantly associated with positive RT-PCR results related to COVID-19. It was concluded that understanding the comorbidities enhance defining patients with COVID-19 at higher risk. Further research is needed to confirm and clarify the impact of the association of co-morbidities that accompany COVID-19.