Focusing on modern sperm function testing, this guide is essential in selecting sperm that will produce viable and healthy embryos.

General Description of the Series: The critically acclaimed laboratory standard for more than forty years, Methods in Enzymology is one of the most highly respected publications in the field of biochemistry. Since 1955, each volume has been eagerly awaited, frequently consulted, and praised by researchers and reviewers alike. Now with more than 300 volumes (all of them still in print), the series contains much material still relevant today--truly an essential publication for researchers in all fields of life sciences. Key Features * Total Antioxidant Activity * Vitamin C * Polyphenols and Flavanoids * Thiols * Vitamin E and Coenzyme Q10 * Carotenoids and Retinoids.

This book describes the methods of analysis and determination of oxidants and oxidative stress in biological systems. Reviews and protocols on select methods of analysis of ROS, RNS, oxygen, redox status, and oxidative stress in biological systems are described in detail. It is an essential resource for both novices and experts in the field of oxidant and oxidative stress biology.

This volume is divided into five sections. Section I deals with preparative methodology for isolation and purification of the components of the oxy radical experimental systems use most frequently, including all three forms of SOD and several other important scavengers. Section II provides the experimenter with a choice of a dozen oxy radical generating systems which can be used for testing of scavengers or for evaluation of the effects of oxy radicals on target tissues. The reader will note that in this section, as well as in most of the rest of the volume, the orientation is primarily biochemical, biologic, and medical, rather than pure chemistry or pure physics. Nevertheless, the techniques are widely applicable to a variety of disciplines.

The strongest point of this book titled “Biochemistry of Oxidative Stress: Physiopathology and Clinical Aspects”, is that the academic and scientific background of the authors/editors guarantee the authorship of a book comprising all aspects of oxidative stress, ranging from very molecular aspects, to clinical application, including the antioxidant therapy. Of particular importance is the fact that the aforementioned aspects are described in the book in a general section and in three different and important pathologies, such as cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer. The importance of these pathologies lays in the fact that, taken separately or together, they represent by far the leading cause of death in the world. Finally, all the chapters have been written by highly recognized authorities in the field of their investigations. At least to our knowledge, this is the first book with this characteristics in the field of oxidative stress.

One of the major biomedical triumphs of the post-World War II era was the defmitive demonstration that hypercholesterolemia is a key causative factor in atherosclerosis; that hypercholesterolemia can be effectively treated; and that treatment significantly reduces not only coronary disease mortality but also all cause mortality. Treatment to lower plasma levels of cholesterol - primarily low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol - is now accepted as best medical practice and both physicians and patients are being educated to take aggressive measures to lower LDL. We can confidently look forward to important decreases in the toll of coronary artery disease over the coming decades. However, there is still uncertainty as to the exact mechanisms by which elevated plasma cholesterol and LDL levels initiate and favor the progression of lesions. There is general consensus that one of the earliest responses to hypercholesterolemia is the adhesion of monocytes to aortic endothelial cells followed by their penetration into the subendothelial space, where they differentiate into macrophages. These cells, and also medial smooth muscle cells that have migrated into the subendothelial space, then become loaded with mUltiple, large droplets of cholesterol esters . . . the hallmark of the earliest visible atherosclerotic lesion, the so-called fatty streak. This lesion is the precursor of the more advanced lesions, both in animal models and in humans. Thus the centrality of hypercholesterolemia cannot be overstated. Still, the atherogenic process is complex and evolves over a long period of time.