Cancer is the second cause of death after cardiovascular diseases. With due attention to rapid progress in the phytochemical study of plants, they are becoming popular because of their anticancer effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the effective medicinal plants in the treatment of cancer and study their mechanism of action. In order to gather information the keywords “traditional medicine,” “plant compounds,” “medicinal plant,” “medicinal herb,” “toxicity,” “anticancer effect,” “cell line,” and “treatment” were searched in international databases such as ScienceDirect, PubMed, and Scopus and national databases such as Magiran, Sid, and Iranmedex, and a total of 228 articles were collected. In this phase, 49 nonrelevant articles were excluded. Enhancement P53 protein expression, reducing the expression of proteins P27, P21, NFκB expression and induction of apoptosis, inhibition of the PI3K/Akt pathway, and reduction of the level of acid phosphatase and lipid peroxidation are the most effective mechanisms of herbal plants that can inhibit cell cycle and proliferation. Common treatments such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy can cause some complications. According to results of this study, herbal extracts have antioxidant compounds that can induce apoptosis and inhibit cell proliferation by the investigated mechanisms.

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Transgenic coexpression of a class I–restricted tumor antigen–specific T cell receptor (TCR) and CD8αβ (TCR8) redirects antigen specificity of CD4+ T cells. Reinforcement of biophysical properties and early TCR signaling explain how redirected CD4+ T cells recognize target cells, but the transcriptional basis for their acquired antitumor function remains elusive. We, therefore, interrogated redirected human CD4+ and CD8+ T cells by single-cell RNA sequencing and characterized them experimentally in bulk and single-cell assays and a mouse xenograft model. TCR8 expression enhanced CD8+ T cell function and preserved less differentiated CD4+ and CD8+ T cells after tumor challenge. TCR8+CD4+ T cells were most potent by activating multiple transcriptional programs associated with enhanced antitumor function. We found sustained activation of cytotoxicity, costimulation, oxidative phosphorylation– and proliferation-related genes, and simultaneously reduced differentiation and exhaustion. Our study identifies molecular features of TCR8 expression that can guide the development of enhanced immunotherapies.

PurposeMyofascial pain syndrome (MPS) is a common musculoskeletal disorder among young adults associated with presence of myofascial trigger points. We aimed to evaluate efficacy of ozone injection (OI) in MPS patients, compared with two currently used methods including lidocaine injection (LI) and dry needling (DN).Patients and methodsIn this single-blinded study, a total of 72 eligible patients were included and then randomly divided into three equal groups: DN, OI, and LI. All patients received treatment in three weekly sessions. Visual analog scale (VAS) for pain, cervical lateral flexion, pain pressure threshold (PPT), and neck disability index (NDI) were the main outcome measures, which were evaluated at baseline and at 4 weeks after injections. Analytic results were demonstrated as both within- and between-groups mean difference (MD).ResultsSixty two patients finished the study, 20 participants in both the DN and LI groups, and 22 persons in OI group. Distribution of all demographics and baseline clinical variables were relatively similar among groups. All three interventions were remarkably effective in improving patients’ pain and PPT. Significant decrease in VAS (MD=–3.6±1.4) and increase in PPT (MD=7.2±5.1) within 4 weeks follow-up confirmed this finding. Also, NDI had similar significant improvement (MD=–9.9±8.7), but lateral flexion range did not show remarkable increase. There was also a statistically significant difference among three methods’ efficacy on VAS, NDI, and PPT, favoring OI and LI.ConclusionIn summary, this data showed that in short-term follow-up, all three methods were significantly effective in MPS treatment; however, OI and LI groups had slightly better results than the DN group, with no remarkable preference between them.