No abstract

Miscarriage is the most common complication of pregnancy. Moreover, vitamin D deficiency is a prevalent concern among women of reproductive age, particularly in the Arab world, where the link between vitamin D deficiency and miscarriage is still unknown. This study was conducted to determine the relationship between vitamin D and miscarriage by comparing the concentration of vitamin D among women with spontaneous abortion and pregnant women. A total of 80 subjects were enrolled in this study and divided into two groups. The first group included 40 women with spontaneous abortions aged between 18 and 40 years. The second group included 40 pregnant women without previous history of miscarriages. Total 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25-OH-VD) measurement was estimated with a Dry Fluorescence Immunoassay analyzer using the Lansionbio LS-1100 instrument. The relationship between the five age groups and the vitamin D status of women with spontaneous abortion was not significant (p>0.05). There was no significant relationship between the miscarriage trimesters and vitamin D status (p>0.05) and between the five age groups (p>0.05). In our study, 95% of women with spontaneous abortion had vitamin D deficiency, compared to only 17.5% of pregnant women. A normal range of vitamin D improves the growth of the fetus and prevents pregnancy complications and miscarriage, promoting the growth of blood vessels in the placenta and improving the function of immune cells.

Infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV)is serious and may lead to death. Venous blood samples were collected from HCV-infected patients (n=60) and from people without infection (n=60) as controls. These patients visited the Digestive System and Liver Disease Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq, during the period from 1st February to 1st November 2021. The results revealed no significant difference between males (31; 50.8%) and females(29; 49.2%) HCV-infected patients. The highest infection rate (55.6%) was observed among the 50–78 years age group, then 53.7% among the 25–49 years age group, then 36.7% among the 5–24 years age group with a significant difference(P=0.2). A highly significant difference was observed in the mean glutamic-pyruvic transaminase levels between HCV-infected patients (25.56±12.45) and the controls(17.86±4.91) (P=0.01), and a significant difference was observed in the mean glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase levels between HCV-infected patients (21.70±8.63) and the controls(15.93±4.35) (P=0.02). A highly significant difference was demonstrated in mean alkaline phosphatase levels between HCV-infected patients (362.15±113.60) and controls (197.81±34.70)(P=0.001). Overall, we found that blood markers could aid in disease diagnosis and prognosis rather than mutations within the nonstructural 5A.1 hot spot. The frequency of mutations within this site was found to be very low.

Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) represents the most prevalent malignancy among untreated HIV-positive individuals. Herpesvirus linked with Kaposi's sarcoma (KSHV; also termed as human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8)). In this study, blood samples were collected from 120 individuals, 60 of them had HHV-8 infection with kaposi sarcoma and 60 persons as apparently healthy control. These patients attended Baghdad Teaching Hospital from the period of 15th February 2021 to 15th January 2022. Infections are seen to be more prevalent in the age group of 25-49 years when compared to other groups. The distribution of the biomarkers confirmed that 50, 25 and 80% of the 20 infected patients were positive for Ca19.9, Ca125 and Ca15.3 respectively. The Ca19.9, Ca125, and Ca15.3 biomarkers all produced good results in patients with Human Herpes Virus 8 (HHV-8) infections, leading us to the conclusion that these biomarkers gave favorable results. All of the PCR products showed a positive amplification at 434bp. Phylogenetic analysis confirmed the belongingness to the HHV strain. Further, this could lead to the development of a novel molecular diagnostic tool.

This study was carried out to investigate the role of both calcium chloride and Vitamin C in protection against the deterioration effect of sodium fluoride (NaF) exposure on thyroid function .Fifty adult male rats were used, which divided randomly into five equal groups, the first group: The animals of this group served as