Assessing the Hepatotoxic Effects of Fluoropyrimidine Chemotherapy in Male Iraqi Colorectal Cancer Patients.

INTRODUCTION: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one the most frequently occurring cancer types among various populations. Fluoropyrimidine is the backbone of first-line chemotherapy, the oral capecitabine, or intravenous 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in various combinations and schedules the chemotherapy regime in the treatment of a wide variety of gastrointestinal cancers. The enzyme dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) functions as the rate-limiting step in the metabolism of fluoropyrimidine chemotherapies, and patients with complete or partial DPD deficiency are at increased risk of severe and fatal toxicity during treatment with fluorouracil. AIM: This study aimed to examine the chemotoxicity of the 5-FU drug on hepatocytes in male Iraqi CRC patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This research is a cross-sectional study conducted between November 2022 and April 2023. The study included 80 male participants who had undergone surgical intervention for stage III CRC under the care of the Misan Health Directorate, Misan Center for Tumors Treatment, located in Misan, Iraq. Based on their subsequent surgical treatment, the participants were divided into two groups. The first group, comprising 45 males aged between 41 and 71 years, experienced a relapse despite receiving adjuvant therapy, which involved a singular cycle of fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy (5-FU). The second group consisted of 35 male patients with CRC, aged between 40 and 57 years, who did not experience a relapse post-adjuvant therapy. Their adjuvant therapy involved a single round of fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy with 5-FU. Relapse in patients was determined by assessing the white blood cell count (WBC). RESULTS: Liver enzymes were significantly increased after 5-FU treatment, while the concentration of albumin was significantly decreased. CONCLUSION: The findings of our study clearly indicate that 5-FU induced hepatic injury, lowering the hepatocyte function with elevated levels of hepatic enzymes and low concentration of albumin in the blood, which is an important predictive marker of chemotherapy toxicity.

The Evaluation of Dihydropyrimidine Dehydrogenase Enzyme Level in the Serum of Colorectal Cancer Iraqi Males on Fluoropyrimidine-Based Chemotherapy (Capecitabine).

The cornerstone of systemic chemotherapy for colorectal cancer (CRC) revolves around fluoropyrimidines. This class encompasses 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), which is administered intravenously, along with its oral prodrug counterpart, capecitabine. Central to the metabolism of both 5-FU and capecitabine is the pivotal enzyme dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD). Operating at the rate-limiting juncture, DPD assumes a critical role. Notably, a deficiency in DPD significantly elevates the risk quotient for encountering unfavorable outcomes linked to the administration of fluoropyrimidines. This study seeks to assess the significance of DPD enzyme levels in the serum of Iraqi colorectal cancer male patients undergoing fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy, specifically with capecitabine. It adopts a case-control design and comprises 80 male participants. Those males are divided into two distinct groups. Group 1 comprises 45 male patients diagnosed with CRC who have experienced relapse subsequent to undergoing chemotherapy based on fluoropyrimidine (capecitabine). Their ages span from 41 to 71 years, and they were treated at the Misan Health Directorate/Misan Center for Tumor Treatment. Group 2 encompasses 35 male patients diagnosed with CRC who underwent fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy (capecitabine) without encountering relapse. Their ages range from 40 to 57 years. All participants were provided with comprehensive information regarding the research, and data collection occurred through a structured questionnaire. Subsequent to capecitabine-based treatment, serum samples were collected from CRC patients (stage III). The findings from this research indicate a notable elevation in DPD enzyme activity. Furthermore, a significant reduction in enzyme activity was observed among patients who experienced relapse, in contrast to those who remained non-relapsed. The results indicate that individuals with an insufficiency in DPD are notably more vulnerable to experiencing severe and potentially life-threatening side effects upon exposure to the commonly utilized chemotherapy drug, 5-FU.

UBVRI night sky brightness at Kottamia Astronomical Observatory.

Photoelectric observations of night sky brightness (NSB) at different zenith distances and azimuths, covering all the sky, at the Egyptian Kottamia Astronomical observatory (KAO) site of coordinates ϕ = 29° 55.9' N and λ = 31° 49.5' E, were done using a fully automated photoelectric photometer (FAPP). The Bessel wide range system (UBVRI) is used for the first time to observe NSB for three consecutive nights (1-3 August, 2022) under good seeing conditions after the moon sets. The deduced results were taken in photons and converted into mag/arcsec2. The average zenith sky brightness for U, B, V, R and I filters are found to be 20.49, 20.38, 19.41, 18.60 and 17.94 mag/arcsec2 respectively. The average color indices (U-B), (B-V), (V-R) and (R-I), at the zenith are detected to be 0.11, 0.98, 0.81 and 0.66, respectively. We plotted the isophotes of the sky brightness at KAO in U, B, V, R and I colors (filters) and determined both the average atmospheric extinction and sky transparency through these UBVRI filters. The atmospheric and other meteorological conditions were taken into our consideration during the observational nights. The results of the current study illustrate the main impact of the new cities built around KAO on the sky glow over it, and which astronomical observations are affected.

The Impact of Angiotensin Converting Enzyme-2 (ACE-2) on Bone Remodeling Marker Osteoprotegerin (OPG) in Post-COVID-19 Iraqi Patients.

Introduction As COVID-19 affects human genes in several types of peripheral tissue, numerous disorders occur after recovery. The virus enters host cells via angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE-2) receptors that affect bone remodeling, leading to osteopenia or osteoporosis, which is characterized by low bone mineral density (BMD). The adult skeleton undergoes about 10% remodeling annually, which is crucial for preventing fatigue damage and preserving calcium homeostasis. An imbalance in the rates of bone production and resorption causes bone loss. Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is one of the regulators involved in the bone remodeling mechanism, it decreases the activity of NF-B receptors that activates the receptor activators of NF-B ligand (RANKL) pathway, which maintains the bone homeostasis balance. This study aims to find out the disruption of bone homeostasis balance in Iraqi post-COVID-19 patients. Materials and methods It is a case-control study that includes 130 Iraqi subjects enrolled. They were divided into two groups - the first group consisted of 80 post-COVID-19 infection patients, while the second group consisted of 50 who were not infected with COVID-19. Also, the levels of ACE-2 and OPG were measured in the serum by the ELISA technique. The BMD was measured by the DEXA scan technique. Results This study found that there is an effect of coronavirus infection on the bone strength measured by the Mean of the OPG level, which was found to be highly significant in the serum of post-COVID-19 patients when compared with non-COVID-19 subjects (P-value = 0.001), but the Mean of ACE-2 level was statistically non-significant between the two groups (P-value = 0.13). Also, the BMD of post-COVID-19 patients that was measured by DEXA scan had a statistically highly significant T-score% between the two groups. Conclusion The current study found that there was an effect of COVID-19 on the bone remodeling mechanism, which may be causing osteopenia or osteoporosis for Iraqi subjects enrolled in the current study. Also, analyzing the OPG level in the serum could be helpful in predicting low BMD.

Predicting bioavailability change of complex chemical mixtures in contaminated soils using visible and near-infrared spectroscopy and random forest regression.

A number of studies have shown that visible and near infrared spectroscopy (VIS-NIRS) offers a rapid on-site measurement tool for the determination of total contaminant concentration of petroleum hydrocarbons compounds (PHC), heavy metals and metalloids (HM) in soil. However none of them have yet assessed the feasibility of using VIS-NIRS coupled to random forest (RF) regression for determining both the total and bioavailable concentrations of complex chemical mixtures. Results showed that the predictions of the total concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), PHC, and alkanes (ALK) were very good, good and fair, and in contrast, the predictions of the bioavailable concentrations of the PAH and PHC were only fair, and poor for ALK. A large number of trace elements, mainly lead (Pb), aluminium (Al), nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) were predicted with very good or good accuracy. The prediction results of the total HMs were also better than those of the bioavailable concentrations. Overall, the results demonstrate that VIS-NIR DRS coupled to RF is a promising rapid measurement tool to inform both the distribution and bioavailability of complex chemical mixtures without the need of collecting soil samples and lengthy extraction for further analysis.

The application of a handheld mid-infrared spectrometry for rapid measurement of oil contamination in agricultural sites.

Rapid analysis of oil-contaminated soils is important to facilitate risk assessment and remediation decision-making process. This study reports on the potential of a handheld mid-infrared (MIR) spectrometer for the prediction of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), including aliphatic (alkanes) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in limited number of fresh soil samples. Partial least squares regression (PLSR) and random forest (RF) modelling techniques were compared for the prediction of alkanes, PAH, and TPH concentrations in soil samples (n = 85) collected from three contaminated sites located in the Niger Delta, Southern Nigeria. Results revealed that prediction of RF models outperformed the PLSR with coefficient of determination (R2) values of 0.80, 0.79 and 0.72, residual prediction deviation (RPD) values of 2.35, 1.96, and 2.72, and root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) values of 63.80, 83.0 and 65.88 mg kg-1 for TPH, alkanes, and PAH, respectively. Considering the limited dataset used in the independent validation (18 samples), accurate predictions were achieved with RF for PAH and TPH, while the prediction for alkanes was less accurate. Therefore, results suggest that RF calibration models can be used successfully to predict TPH and PAH using handheld MIR spectrophotometer under field measurement conditions.

Evaluation of vis-NIR reflectance spectroscopy sensitivity to weathering for enhanced assessment of oil contaminated soils.

This study investigated the sensitivity of visible near-infrared spectroscopy (vis-NIR) to discriminate between fresh and weathered oil contaminated soils. The performance of random forest (RF) and partial least squares regression (PLSR) for the estimation of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) throughout the time was also explored. Soil samples (n = 13) with 5 different textures of sandy loam, sandy clay loam, clay loam, sandy clay and clay were collected from 10 different locations across the Cranfield University's Research Farm (UK). A series of soil mesocosms was then set up where each soil sample was spiked with 10 ml of Alaskan crude oil (equivalent to 8450 mg/kg), allowed to equilibrate for 48 h (T2 d) and further kept at room temperature (21 °C). Soils scanning was carried out before spiking (control TC) and then after 2 days (T2 d) and months 4 (T4 m), 8 (T8 m), 12 (T12 m), 16 (T16 m), 20 (T20 m), 24 (T24 m), whereas gas chromatography mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) analysis was performed on T2 d, T4 m, T12 m, T16 m, T20 m, and T24 m. Soil scanning was done simultaneously using an AgroSpec spectrometer (305 to 2200 nm) (tec5 Technology for Spectroscopy, Germany) and Analytical Spectral Device (ASD) spectrometer (350 to 2500 nm) (ASDI, USA) to assess and compare their sensitivity and response against GC-MS data. Principle component analysis (PCA) showed that ASD performed better than tec5 for discriminating weathered versus fresh oil contaminated soil samples. The prediction results proved that RF models outperformed PLSR and resulted in coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.92, ratio of prediction deviation (RPD) of 3.79, and root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) of 108.56 mg/kg. Overall, the results demonstrate that vis-NIR is a promising tool for rapid site investigation of weathered oil contamination in soils and for TPH monitoring without the need of collecting soil samples and lengthy hydrocarbon extraction for further quantification analysis.

Rapid prediction of total petroleum hydrocarbons concentration in contaminated soil using vis-NIR spectroscopy and regression techniques.

Visible and near infrared spectrometry (vis-NIRS) coupled with data mining techniques can offer fast and cost-effective quantitative measurement of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) in contaminated soils. Literature showed however significant differences in the performance on the vis-NIRS between linear and non-linear calibration methods. This study compared the performance of linear partial least squares regression (PLSR) with a nonlinear random forest (RF) regression for the calibration of vis-NIRS when analysing TPH in soils. 88 soil samples (3 uncontaminated and 85 contaminated) collected from three sites located in the Niger Delta were scanned using an analytical spectral device (ASD) spectrophotometer (350-2500nm) in diffuse reflectance mode. Sequential ultrasonic solvent extraction-gas chromatography (SUSE-GC) was used as reference quantification method for TPH which equal to the sum of aliphatic and aromatic fractions ranging between C10 and C35. Prior to model development, spectra were subjected to pre-processing including noise cut, maximum normalization, first derivative and smoothing. Then 65 samples were selected as calibration set and the remaining 20 samples as validation set. Both vis-NIR spectrometry and gas chromatography profiles of the 85 soil samples were subjected to RF and PLSR with leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV) for the calibration models. Results showed that RF calibration model with a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.85, a root means square error of prediction (RMSEP) 68.43mgkg-1, and a residual prediction deviation (RPD) of 2.61 outperformed PLSR (R2=0.63, RMSEP=107.54mgkg-1 and RDP=2.55) in cross-validation. These results indicate that RF modelling approach is accounting for the nonlinearity of the soil spectral responses hence, providing significantly higher prediction accuracy compared to the linear PLSR. It is recommended to adopt the vis-NIRS coupled with RF modelling approach as a portable and cost effective method for the rapid quantification of TPH in soils.

Tandem emulsification for high-throughput production of double emulsions.

Core-shell double emulsions produced using microfluidic methods with controlled structural parameters exhibit great potential in a wide range of applications, but the low production rate of microfluidic methods hinders the exploitation of the capabilities of microfluidics to produce double emulsions with well-defined features. A major obstacle towards the scaled-up production of core-shell double emulsions is the difficulty of achieving robust spatially controlled wettability in integrated microfluidic devices. Here, we use tandem emulsification, a two-step process with microfluidic devices, to scale up the production. With this method, single emulsions are generated in a first device and are re-injected directly into a second device to form uniform double emulsions. We demonstrate the application of tandem emulsification for scalable core-shell emulsion production with both integrated flow focusing and millipede devices and obtain emulsions of which over 90% are single-core monodisperse double emulsion drops. With both mechanisms, the shell thickness can be controlled, so that shells as thin as 3 µm are obtained for emulsions 50 µm in radius.

Frequency of abdominal aortic calcification in a group of Iraqi hemodialysis patients.

Cardiovascular complications including abdominal aortic calcification significantly affect the mortality and morbidity in patients on a hemodialysis (HD) program. The objective of this study is to find the frequency of abdominal aortic calcification in patients on regular HD and to evaluate the effect of parameters on frequency and severity of abdominal aortic calcification. Fifty-four patients with end-stage renal disease on regular HD were studied from January 2011 to December 2011 to evaluate abdominal aortic calcification by plain abdominal X-ray. The study showed that 10 (18.5%) patients had abdominal aortic calcification. Only one (1.9%) had grade 3 calcification and among the remaining, five (9.3%) patients had grade 1 and four (7.4%), grade 2. There was a statistically significant difference (P <0.05) in the means of serum cholesterol among those with and without abdominal aortic calcification. Hypertension was noticed in most patients with abdominal aortic calcification. The frequency of abdominal aortic calcification is directly related to age and duration of dialysis. The only biochemical parameter with a statistically significant effect was serum cholesterol.

Amino acid derivatives, part 4: synthesis and anti-HIV activity of new naphthalene derivatives.

A new series of 2-(naphthalen-2-yloxy)-N-[(aryl-5-thioxo-4,5-dihydro-1H-1,2,4-triazol-3-yl)methyl] acetamides 5a-f was synthesized from naphthalene-derived glycine derivative 2 via the hydrazinoacetamide analogs 4a-f. Alternatively, treatment of 4a with H(2)SO(4) afforded 2-(naphthalen-2-yloxy)-N-((5-(phenylamino)-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)methyl) acetamide 6a. Alkylation or sulphonylation of 5a afforded the S-alkylated derivatives 7 and 8, respectively. Interestingly, treatment of 3 with methoxide ion gave the triazine derivative 9. The synthesized compounds have been screened for their inhibitory activity against HIV-1 and HIV-2 in MT-4 cells. However, 7 was found to be the potent inhibitor in vitro for the replication of HIV-1 (EC(50 )= 0.20 microg/mL), suggesting a new lead in the development of an antiviral agent.

Histo-enzymological studies on the parotid salivary glands of goat.

The parotid salivary gland of the goat was studied histoenzymologically. It was found that AKPase was confined to the myoepithelial cells and blood capillaries. ACPase positive granules were concentrated in the luminal parts of acinar cells and along the intercellular canaliculi. NSE showed granular and apical localization in the ductal cells. The periductal nerve plexus had strong AChE and BuChE activities. The acinar cells presented moderate granular activity only for specific Che. CO, SDH, NADHD, NADPHD, G-6-PDH, ISCDH, LDH and GDH were demonstrated in the acinar and ductal cells with higher concentrations in th striated and interlobular ducts.

Degradation of anionic surfactants and the effect on bacterial indices of pollution.

The effect of two anionic surfactants on bacterial indicators of pollution has been studied. In raw Nile water continuous viability of faecal streptococci and natural microflora, as represented by total bacterial counts, was observed in the presence of the two surfactants. On the other hand, "Teepol 610" inhibited the growth of coliform group to some extent. In sewage-seeded water "Teepol 410" showed substantially greater degree of inhibition for faecal streptococci. The encouragement of the total coliform was observed only during the first period of exposure. The biodegradation rate of "Teepol 610" by microflora in both raw Nile water and sewage-seeded water was higher than 90% in about 10 days. In case of "Teepol 410" biodegradation tests showed that it is a hard surfactant; 7 weeks were required to get about 80% degradation.

Studies on the ovarian activity of the dromedary (Camelus dromedarius).

Post-ovulatory corpora haemorrhagica and mature corpora lutea were seen in the ovary of non pregnant dromedary only during the spring season. Regressed corpora lutea were noticed in the pvaries all-over the year together with many follicles of different sizes. 2 or 3 corpora lutea in different stages of regression might be found in the same ovary. Premordial follicles in the ovary of the dromedary were found to be distributed under tunica albuginea and extend deeply for a short distance in the cortical tissue. Number of these follicles are intact while others are atretic. The ovary of the dromedary shows very few number of intact growing follicles all-over the year. The majority of the growing follicles were found to show different stages of atresia. A large number of Graafian follicles is noticed in the ovaries of the dromedary examined all-over the year. Some of these Graafian follicles are intact, others show signs of atresia. The most common type of atresia that affects the large antral follicles is the cystic atresia. Both granulosa and theca cells of the dromedary undergo luteinization after ovulation to form the corpus luteum. This occurs earlier in the granulosa cells than in the theca cells. Regression of the corpus luteum was found to occur in the dromedary by 2 different ways, termed vascular and avascular types. Sometimes the 2 types of regression occur in the same ovary.

Morphological and histochemical studies of the mandibular salivary glands of the one-humped camel (Camelus dromedarius).

The morphology, and nerve and blood supply of the mandibular salivary glands of the one-humped camel were studied in detail. The intraglandular portion of the duct system was also examined. The micromorphological and histochemical studies showed that the mandibular glands are of the tubuloacinar type. The secretory cells are of two types; (1) Mucous cells grouped into secretory tubules and acini, and (2) seromucoid cells grouped into acini and demilunes. These demilunes are associated with the mucous acini. The interlobular excretory ducts and the mandibular duct contain globlet cells between their lining epithelium.

Morphological, micromorphological and histochemical studies on the parotid salivary glands of the one-humped camel (Camelus dromedarius).

The morphology, blood and nerve supply of the parotid salivary glands of the one-humped camel were studied in detail. The intraglandular portion of the duct system was also examined. The histological and histochemical studies showed that the parotid salivary glands of the camel are of the tubuloacinar type and are serumocoid in nature. The secretory acini and tubules show themselves in 3 different forms according to the different phases of their secretory cycle. The duct system of the gland contains goblet cells between its lining epithelium. The intercalated ducts show ampullation followed by narrowing that help in mixing the secretion. Intraepithelial glands are found in the terminal part of the parotid duct.

Some anatomical and histological studies on the arterial supply of the nasal cavity of the buffalo in Egypt (Bos bubalis L.).

The nasal cavity of the buffalo received its blood supply from the sphenopalatine and the external ethmoidal arteries; the former vessel chiefly supplied the respiratory portion of the nasal mucosa, while the latter was distributed to the olfactory region. The greater palatine artery supplied a palatonasal branch in the most extreme oral part of the nasal floor. The nasal vestibule received bronches from both the maxillary labial and infraorbital arteries. The arteries are of the muscular type and presented in addition ot the usual structure of their walls, thin-walled and thick-walled types. Stalked polsters are encountered in the branches of the arterial vessels having walls of the normal thickness. The appearance of the longitudinally arranged smooth muscle fibers found in the intime of some of the subepithelial small arteries and arterioles is suggestive of their epitheloid structure.