y reduce adverse reactions in humans and animals.Stressors caused by the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) contribute to increased addictive behaviors in the general population worldwide. Little is known, however, about addictive behaviors of people who have recovered a long time ago, even years, from substance use disorder (SUD). The goal of the present research was to examine the craving for drug use and addictive behaviors (tobacco and alcohol consumption, viewing of pornography, gambling, and shopping online) of people who recovered from SUD, before and after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods During one week of isolation imposed in Israel following the outbreak of COVID-19 in April, 2020, a self-report questionnaire was distributed to a convenience sample of 113 people who had recovered from SUD, aged 22-69, 78% men.Results Fifty-one percent of participants reported craving drugs during the isolation period and engaging in addictive behaviors. Significant differences were found in tobacco and alcohol consumption, gambling, and viewing of pornography online, before and after the outbreak of the pandemic, especially in participants who reported having engaged in these addictive behaviors to some extent before the outbreak. A hierarchical linear regression showed a significant explained variance (R2=44%, p less then .001), with stronger feelings of loneliness and shorter length of time free from drug use being associated with stronger craving for drugs.Conclusions The drug addiction treatment establishment should pay close attention and strengthen communication with people who recovered from SUD. It is necessary to develop real-time anti-craving and anti-replacement addiction interventions to prevent relapses.Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a major medical problem in which mono-therapeutic interventions have so far shown only limited effectiveness. We studied the repurpose of genistein, which could prevent sickle hemoglobin from polymerizing under hypoxic conditions in this disease. Genistein an important nutraceutical molecule found in soybean. The present study examines the repurposing genistein as an anti- sickling agent. Genistein shows inhibition of Hb S polymerization as well as a sickle reversal. Also, we have explored the interaction of the genistein with sickle hemoglobin (Hb S), using fluorescence, far-UV-CD spectroscopy, MicroScale Thermophoresis (MST), FTIR, combined with molecular modeling computations. The quenching constant decreases with increasing temperature, a characteristic that coincides with the static type of quenching mechanism. Temperature-dependent fluorescence measurements and molecular modeling studies reveal that apart from the hydrogen bonding, electrostatic interactions also play a crucial role in genistein and Hb S complex formation. In silico, distribution prediction of adsorption, digestion, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADME/Tox) based on physical and chemical properties show that genistein is nontoxic and has ideal drug properties. The helicity and thermophoretic mobility of Hb S was a change in the presence of genistein, which leads to the destabilizing the Hb S polymer was examined using CD and MST, respectively. Our results open up the possibility for a promising therapeutic approach for the SCD by repurposed genistein as an anti-sickling agent. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.The bromoalkane, 1-bromopropane (1-BP), may damage the reproductive system though oxidative stress, while the transcription factor nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) plays an important role in regulating intracellular antioxidant levels against oxidative stress. This study explored the role of oxidative stress and the Nrf2 signaling pathway in mediating the reproductive toxicity of 1-BP using the ovarian carcinoma cell line OVCAR-3 as an in vitro model of the human ovary. OVCAR-3 cells were treated with 1, 5, 10 and 15 mM 1-BP. After 24 h, the cellular reactive oxygen species and malondialdehyde concentrations significantly increased, while the superoxide dismutase activity decreased; translocation of Nrf2 from the cytosol to the nucleus as well as downstream protein expression of Nrf2-regulated genes heme oxygenase-1 and Bcl-2 was inhibited. Apoptosis was also observed, accompanied by increased caspase-3 and caspase-9 activity. The antioxidant vitamin C alleviated 1-BP-induced apoptosis by inhibiting caspase activity activating the Nrf2 signaling pathway. These findings suggested that 1-BP induced oxidative stress and apoptosis in OVCAR-3 cells through inactivation of Nrf2 signaling.Methotrexate (MTX) is a chemotherapeutic medicine used in the treatment of several types of cancer and inflammatory diseases. It exhibits several drawbacks especially on highly dividing and developing cells.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/pu-h71.html  This study aimed to assess the role of Opuntia ficus indica ethanolic extract on testicular damage induced by MTX in rat. MTX was administrated for 10 days (20 mg/kg). Extract of cactus cladodes (Opuntia ficus indica) was given to MTX-treated rats (0.4 g/kg). Spermatozoa were collected from cauda epididymis and analyzed for sperm count and motility. Testis samples were used for histopathological and oxidative stress studies (assessment of malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, protein carbonyls (PCs), catalase (CAT) glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities). Moreover, levels of testosterone were measured in serum by radioimmunoassay. Our results showed that MTX had destructive effects on sperm count and motility associated with significant decrease in testosterone levels in MTX group. This effect was then confirmed by docking results. Testis of MTX group showed increased oxidative stress status. In fact, PCs and MDA were increased and CAT, GPx and SOD were decreased suggesting increased reactive oxygen species and deficiency in enzymatic antioxidant. These findings were associated with disrupted testicular morphology as assessed by histological study. Cladodes extract had protective effects on rat's gonad histology, oxidative stress and improve both sperm parameters (count and motility) and serum testosterone levels. In conclusion, our results suggested that Opuntia ficus indica cladodes extract improved MTX-induced testicular injury and possess potent fertility boosting effects in rats. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.