Antiphosphatidyl serine autoantibodies and premature coronary events

To determine whether antiphosphatidyl serine autoantibodies [aPS] are associated with increased risk of occurrence of coronary events in selected patients. This study compared 50 patients with coronary events with 30 controls, recruited from the cities of Mosul, Erbil, and Dohuk cities, Northern Iraq, between March 2004 and March 2005. The patient group consisted of 23 individuals with myocardial infarction and 27 with angina. We evaluated the presence of aPS antibodies [IgG and IgM isotypes] by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The studied cases were less than 50 years of age [mean +/- SD, 39.6 +/- 5.9] and had no recognizable risk factors. Results: The frequency of detecting IgG aPS was 10/50 [20%] among patients and 1/30 [3.3%] among controls, with significant difference and with adjusted odds ratio [OR] of 3.2 [95%CI, 1.1-9.1; p < 0.05]. The IgM aPS frequency was 3/50 [6%] among patients and zero in the controls, with non-significant difference. The three cases were also IgG positive [i.e. the frequency rate for detection of aPS of IgM was the same as for IgG]. Moreover, this marker [aPS] was detected in 8/12 [66.7%] of cases with unstable angina, in 2/15 [13.3%] with stable angina, and in none of the cases with myocardial infarction. IgG aPS autoantibodies are associated with increased risk of coronary events especially angina of unstable subset

prevalence of anti-phospholipid autoantibodies in patients with deep venous thrombosis

The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of antiphospholipid autoantibodies [APLAs] among patients with deep vein thrombosis [DVT]. The APLAs tested were lupus anticoagulant [LA], anticardiolipin [aCL], anti- beta 2 glycoprotein I dependent [a beta 2-GPI], and anti-phosphatidyl serine [aPS]. This study was carried out on 50 patients suffering from DVT events and 30 healthy individuals as a control during the period between 1st March 2004 and 1st March 2005. The studied cases were under 50 years of age, and had no recognizable risk factors. The activated partial thromboplastin time [APTT] was used for LA estimation and ELISA assay was used to test for IgG and IgM isotypes of tested APLAs. The DVT events with significant APLAs was detected in 20/50 [40%] of patients. A significant titers of LA [P > 0.05], total IgG aCL isotype [P > 0.025], and IgG a beta 2-GPI [P > 0.025] were detected in the studied cases, while the correlation was lacking for IgG aPS. The LA, aCL, and a beta 2- GPI significant titers were found to be predominant in DVT patients. Therefore, a panel testing for APLAs is a prudent to correlate such DVT cases as a clinical event related to antiphospholipid syndrome [APS]

Oral candidiasis [thrush] in debilitated children in North Iraq

The aim of the study was to declare the presence of oral candidiasis in debilitating children with oral lesions and the association between this candida infection and the existene of certain risk factors was studied. moreover, species identification of the yeasts isolated was carried on by utilizing the new enzymatic culture [chrom agar]. Seven hundred and ninety one child who were admitted to pediatric hospitals in mosul [north iraq] for different diseases were screened clinically for the presence of suspected lesion of oral thrush. Out of them,101 child showed oral lesions from which swabs were taken and send to the department of microbiology, mosul medical college, for direct and cultural examination. Cultural identification was performed by the conventional and chrom agar methods. Out of 101 cases that showed the presence of oral lesions,93 of them revealed the presence of yeasts by both direct and cultural examination. The higher incidence [55%] was in children less than 6 month of age. Gastroenteritis was the main associated risk factor in the studied cases [51%]. The infection among bottle-feeding infants was higer [53%] than breast-feeding infants [15%].the main isolated species was candida albicans [59%], identified by chrom agar culture method. oral thrush can occur in significant rate among debilitating children, especially those with gastroenteritis and bottle feeding manner. The main isolated species by the chrom agar was candida albicans

Guillain-Barre syndrome and cytomegalovirus infection in Mosul [north of Iraq]

By enzyme linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA] specific cytomegalovirus [CMV] IgM and IgG markers were measured in 30 patients with Gillain - Barre syndrome, 38 patients with central nervous system disorders other than Guillain - Barre syndrome and 25 healthy individuals. Marked elevation in antibody titer of CMV-IgM was detected in eight cases [26.7%] with Guillain-Barre syndrome. the majority of whom were children. These findings suggest that CMV may be an important agent in the development of Guilain-Barre syndrome especially in early ages. It is postulated that an immune mediated mechanism may play an important role in the association between this syndrome and CMV. The emergence of an effective CMV vaccine is hoped to prevent this association and other illnesses occurring after infection with this virus

Herpes simplex virus type 1 encephalitis in Mosul-Iraq

By enzyme linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA] specific herpes simplex virus type I [HSVI] IgG antibodies were measured in paired sera and cerebrospinal fluid [CSF] samples collected from 30 patients with acute encephalitis of suspected viral a etiology and 30 patients with neurological disturbances other than encephalitis. According to serological and CSF findings, herpes simplex virus encephalitis [HSVE] was diagnosed in six patients with acute encephalitis. All the diagnosed cases were of young age and infection was found to follow recurrent infection more commonly than following a primary infection. From this study, HSVE is not a rare disease and it must be strongly suspected in all young patients presented with acute encephalitis. In the absence of facilities for isolation of HSV1, by brain biopsy and culture, a diagnosis of HSVE could be made by detection of arise in CSF antibody level and reduced serum to CSF antibody ratio