Estimating Medicare and Patient Savings From the Use of Bevacizumab for the Treatment of Exudative Age-related Macular Degeneration.

Purpose: The Medicare cost savings from the use of bevacizumab in the United States for the treatment of exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) were estimated by replacing the use of bevacizumab with ranibizumab and aflibercept.

Design: Retrospective trend study.

Methods: Main outcome measures were spending by Medicare as tracked by Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes for intravitreal injections (67028) and treatment-specific J-codes (J0178, J2778, J9035, J3490, and J3590) for inhibitors of vascular endothelial growth factor.

Estimating Public and Patient Savings From Basic Research-A Study of Optical Coherence Tomography in Managing Antiangiogenic Therapy.

Purpose: To compare patient and Medicare savings from the use of optical coherence tomography (OCT) in guiding therapy for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nvAMD) to the research investments made in developing OCT by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Design: Observational cohort study.

Methods: Main outcome measures were spending by Medicare as tracked by Current Procedural Terminology codes on intravitreal injections (67028), retinal OCT imaging (92134), and anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) treatment-specific J-codes (J0178, J2778, J9035, J3490, and J3590).

Exploring the molecular determinants of substrate-selective inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2 by lumiracoxib.

Lumiracoxib is a substrate-selective inhibitor of endocannabinoid oxygenation by cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). We assayed a series of lumiracoxib derivatives to identify the structural determinants of substrate-selective inhibition. The hydrogen-bonding potential of the substituents at the ortho positions of the aniline ring dictated the potency and substrate selectivity of the inhibitors.

Substrate-Selective Inhibition of Cyclooxygenase-2: Development and Evaluation of Achiral Profen Probes.

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) oxygenates arachidonic acid and the endocannabinoids 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) and arachidonoylethanolamide (AEA). We recently reported that (R)-profens selectively inhibit endocannabinoid oxygenation but not arachidonic acid oxygenation. In this work, we synthesized achiral derivatives of five profen scaffolds and evaluated them for substrate-selective inhibition using in vitro and cellular assays.

Peptide inhibitors identify roles for SSB C-terminal residues in SSB/exonuclease I complex formation.

Bacterial single-stranded (ss) DNA-binding proteins (SSBs) facilitate DNA replication, recombination, and repair processes in part by recruiting diverse genome maintenance enzymes to ssDNA. This function utilizes the C-terminus of SSB (SSB-Ct) as a common binding site for SSB's protein partners. The SSB-Ct is a highly conserved, amphipathic sequence comprising acidic and hydrophobic elements.