Aim. This study aimed to assess seminal miRNA relationship with seminal apoptotic markers and oxidative stress (OS) in infertile men associated with varicocele (Vx). Methods. In all, 220 subjects were divided into the following groups: fertile normozoospermic men, fertile normozoospermic men with Vx, infertile oligoasthenoteratozoospermic (OAT) men without Vx, and infertile OAT men with Vx. The...

The highly toxic organophosphorus (OP) nerve agent VX is characterized by a remarkable biological persistence which limits the effectiveness of standard treatment with atropine and oximes. Existing OP hydrolyzing enzymes show low activity against VX and hydrolyze preferentially the less toxic P(+)-VX enantiomer. Recently, a phosphotriesterase (PTE) mutant, C23, was engineered towards the hydrol...

Anaplastic thyroid cancers (ATC) are aggressive tumors, which exhibit cell cycle misregulations leading to uncontrolled cellular proliferation and genomic instability. They fail to respond to chemotherapeutic agents and radiation therapy, and most patients die within a few months of diagnosis. In the present study, we evaluated the in vitro effects on ATC cells of VX-680, an inhibitor of the Au...

BACKGROUND Multiple cysteine proteases of malaria parasites are required for maintenance of parasite metabolic homeostasis and egress from the host erythrocyte. In Plasmodium falciparum these proteases appear to mediate the processing of hemoglobin and aspartic proteases (plasmepsins) in the acidic food vacuole and the hydrolysis of erythrocyte structural proteins at neutral pH. Two cysteine pr...

INTRODUCTION Prevention of lymphocyte apoptosis by caspase inhibition has been proposed as a novel treatment approach in sepsis. However, it has not been clearly demonstrated that caspase inhibitors improve survival in sepsis models when dosed post-insult. Also, there are concerns that caspase inhibitors might suppress the immune response. Here we characterize VX-166, a broad caspase inhibitor,...

Abstract VX is one of the chemical warfare agents that attack victims' nervous systems and ultimately lead to their death. Upon exposure, circulating proteins in bloodstream can be modified with may produce diagnostic adducts. Thus, these adducts would key evidence for forensic investigation against or terrorism. In this study, we discovered a list potential blood protein biomarkers exposure. T...

The effect of drop size on the degradation rate of VX, O-ethyl S-[2-(diisopropylamino)ethyl]methylphosphonothioate, in fresh concrete has been examined using (31)P NMR. Drops of neat VX, ranging in size from 4 microL to 0.2 microL, applied to small concrete coupons (8 mm x 15 mm) were observed to degrade at different rates, with the 1 microL and smaller drops reacting in less than 4 days, and t...

The emergence of resistance to tyrosine kinase inhibitors due to point mutations in Bcr/Abl is a challenging problem for Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph-positive) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients, especially for those with the T315I mutation, against which neither nilotinib or dasatinib shows significant activity. VX-680 is a pan-Aurora kinase inhibitor active against all Bcr/Ab...

Verruciform xanthoma (VX) is a rare, benign lesion that presents in the oral cavity, skin, or genital organs as a verrucous, papillomatous, or flat papule with varying colors. VX has indistinct clinical features, making histopathological examination necessary for a definitive diagnosis. Histologically, VX is characterized by parakeratosis, rete ridges with uniform depth, and an accumulation of ...

AIM To evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of percutaneous transhepatic lymphosonography (PTL) as a novel method for the detection of tumor lymphangiogenesis in hepatic VX(2) of rabbits and to evaluate combined PTL and routine contrast-enhanced ultrasonographic imaging for the diagnosis of liver cancer. METHODS Ten rabbits with VX(2) tumor were included in this study. SonoVue (0.1 mL/kg) wa...