The Department of Chemistry at the Faculty of Science / University of Mosul discussed on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, the tagged doctoral thesis: (Biochemical and genetic study of Decorin protein in patients with Osteoarthritis) Which was submitted by the student Sarah Abdullah Younis al-Dabbagh, in the specialty of Biochemistry and on the Hall of Professor Dr. Saadallah Tawfik for conferences in the Department of chemistry. The dissertation dealt with the study of Decorin protein in patients with degenerative arthritis through three main axes : Clinical axis: measuring the levels of decorin protein in the blood serum and comparing it with healthy people, studying its relationship to some biochemical and immunological indicators such as (MMP-13, Glutaminase, Collagen Type II, Wil-1β), indicators of oxidative stress (MDA, GSH, SOD), as well as assessing liver and kidney function and their relationship to the severity of the disease.The results showed: a significant increase in the level of decorin protein in the serum of patients compared to the control group (Healthy) (p ≥0.0001), that is, about five times higher, with a strong and direct positive correlation between its levels and both the enzymes MMP-13, clotaminase, and the immune index IL-1β. The decorin protein also showed excellent diagnostic efficiency for severe cases with an area under the curve of (AUC = 0.995) in the ROC test Technical axis : partial isolation and purification of the decorin protein from the serum of healthy and patients using advanced techniques including precipitation with ammonium sulfate (65%), dialysis, gel filtration, separation using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), as well as determination of the molecular weight of decorin using electrophoresis technology some applications on the isolated protein were studied and the antioxidant effectiveness was evaluated by extracting the IC50 value and using a test where the purified protein from the serum of patients achieved the highest antioxidant activity compared to healthy C. Molecular axis: involves the study of the level of gene expression of the decorin protein using the technique of quantitative instantaneous polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and its relationship with the clinical severity of the disease. The study revealed that the gene expression of the decorin gene increased by almost 12-fold in patients, achieving a high significant increase (P≥0.0001), which was closely associated with the progression of the disease, which enhances its value as a sensitive molecular biomarker for diagnosis and follow-up of pathological development. This study is in line with the third goal of the Sustainable Development Goals (good health and well-being) by contributing to the improvement of early diagnosis of degenerative arthritis and the development of therapeutic possibilities, and also in line with the fourth goal (quality education) as it enriches scientific research and enhances graduate studies outputs. The discussion Committee was chaired by: Prof. Dr. Mufid Jalil Abdul Abbas, with the membership of Prof. Dr. Mahmoud Ismail Mohammed Hassan, Assistant Prof. Dr. Mohammed Bahri Hassan Abdul, Assistant Prof. Dr. Fatima Abdul Hamid Mohammed Amin, Assistant Prof. Dr. sari khairaldin Mohieddin-under the supervision and membership of: Prof. Dr. Zahra Mohammed Ali Ahmed hammoudat On the sidelines of the discussion , the head of the Department, Assistant Professor Dr. Firas Ahmed Thanon, on behalf of the dean of the Faculty, Professor Dr. Hiam Adel Ibrahim, presented a letter of thanks and appreciation to Professor Dr. Mufid Jalil Abdul Abbas, in appreciation of his scientific efforts, his active participation in the dissertation discussion Committee, his reluctance to travel, and in appreciation of his giving and contributions to support the scientific and academic career . We wish the student and all the students and teachers of our college success and success.

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Wednesday, September 9, 2026