Background: Autoimmune thyroiditis is one of autoimmune thyroid diseases. The cause of Hashimoto's thyroiditis is not clearly identified; however, both genetic and environmental are suggested to play a role in pathogenesis of the disease. Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) is one of the possible causative agents. Objectives: The aim of this study is to look for the association of H. pylori infection with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Patients and Methods: a case-control study involved patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (n=100) and control group (hyperthyroidism n=50, healthy persons n=50), the study groups were subjected to serological investigation of anti-H. pyloriIgG antibodies, anti-thyroid peroxidase antibody, and anti-thyroglobulin antibody(anti-TG Ab) using ELISA technique; besides, demographic data were collected from study groups. Results: Eighty two percent of Hashimoto's thyroiditis patients were females; 57% of Hashimoto's thyroiditis patients were positive for anti-H. pyloriIgG antibodies while the positive result was detected in only 22% of control group and the results were statistically significant (p <0.05). The strength and direction of the relationship between the concentrations of anti-HP IgGAbs and anti-TPO antibodies in Hashimoto's thyroiditis group revealed positive correlation (r = 0.6241). Conclusion: the infection with H. pylori is one of the possible predisposing factors to etiology Hashimoto's thyroiditis. The association between H. pylori infection and other genetic and environmental factors that are related to Hashimoto's thyroiditis should be studied in depth.

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Background: hepatitis C virus (HCV) is responsible for nearly 80 -90% of post-transfusion hepatitis in betathalassemia patients. This study aimed to evaluate the appearance of HCV infection in a set of Beta-Thalassemia patients in Baghdad and to assess the IL-12, IL-18, and serum liver enzymes levels among β-thalassemic patients infected with HCV. Methodology: A total of 150 sample included in this study, (70 male; 70 female) in Baghdad, 140 beta-thalassemia patients, and 10 healthy control group, from January to September, 2020. Sera of study populations were tested for anti-HCV Ab by ELISA and confirmed by western blot technique;the concentrations of IL-12, IL-18, AST, ALT, and APL were also measured. Results: 17.9% (n=25/140) of the major thalassemic patients were positive for HCV Abs.The median of serum concentrations for IL-12 in HCV positive thalassemic patients was 0.41 pg/ml which is lower than the corresponding medians of control group while the median concentration of IL-18 in sera of HCV positive thalassemic patients was 17.07 pg/ml, which is significantly higher (p<0.001) than the corresponding median in control group. The median concentration of AST in sera of HCV positive thalassemic patients was 71.0 U/L which was significantly higher than the equivalent medians in HCV negative thalassemic group and control group while. The correlation coefficient for anti-HCV Abs concentrations and their corresponding IL-12 concentrations is 0.084; while for the same antibodies with IL-18 was 0.0979. Conclusion:The prevalence of HCV infections is high among β-thalassemia major patients in Baghdad, especially among young adult patients. ELISA technique is a perfect choice for detecting anti-HCV Abs with very high sensitivity. Generally, the infected patients have decreased IL-12 concentrations, elevated IL-18 concentrations, and elevated serum AST concentrations.