[Association of Higher Defensin Beta-4 Genomic copy numbers with Behcet's Disease in Iraqi Patients]

Objectives: Behcet's disease [BD] is an immune-mediated small vessel systemic vasculitis. Human beta-defensins are antimicrobial peptides associated with many inflammatory diseases and are encoded by the beta-defensin family of multiple-copy genes. However, their role in BD necessitates further investigation. The aim of the present study was to investigate the possible association of BD in its various clinical forms with defensin beta-4 [DEFB4] genomic copy numbers

Methods: This case-control study was conducted from January to September 2011 and included 50 control subjects and 27 unrelated Iraqi BD patients registered at Baghdad Teaching Hospital, Bagdad, Iraq. Copy numbers of the DEFB4 gene were determined using the comparative cycle threshold method by duplex real-time polymerase chain reaction technology at the Department of Dermatology of Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany

Results: DEFB4 genomic copy numbers were significantly higher in the BD group compared to the control group [P = 0.010]. However, no statistically significant association was found between copy numbers and clinical variables within the BD group

Conclusion: The DEFB4 copy number polymorphism may be associated with BD; however, it is not associated with different clinical manifestations of the disease

placebo control study of the effect of Nigella sativa fixed oil on the healing rate of recurrent aphthous ulceration

Nigella sativa has an antibacterial effect; it produced also a marked antifungal, anticestodal and antinematodal activity besides its antiarithritic, analgesic, antiseptic, antiviral and too many other activities. To show the effect of Nigella sativa fixed oil on the healing rate of RAU. Forty patients with RAU having no other systemic manifestations were included in this study. Those patients were divided into two groups of 20 patients each. The first group was treated by Nigella sativa fixed oil 10% in glycerin 3 times daily, the second group was treated with glycerin 3 times daily. All those patients were assessed by Oral Clinical Manifestation Index [OCMI]. Patients treated with Nigella sativa showed 100% cure after five days of treatment. Nigella sativa fixed oil is a new effective topical agent for promotion of healing of recurrent oral ulceration