Qiu et al. made a security analysis about the protocols of Chaudhry et al. and Kumari et al. in 2018, and they pointed out that there are many security weaknesses in the protocols. To improve the security, Qiu et al. proposed an advanced authentication scheme for Session Initiation Protocol on the basis of the previous protocols and claimed that their own protocol was very secure and practical. However, we demonstrate that the protocol of Qiu et al. has a serious mistake which causes their protocol cannot be executed normally. Beyond that, we also find out that their protocol cannot withstand insider attack and denial service attack. In order to remove these weaknesses, we propose an efficient provably secure mutual authentication scheme. Furthermore, our scheme provides security analysis with the help of Burrows-Abadi-Needham (BAN) logic. Compared with their protocol, ours has greater security and better performance.

Background and objective: Guizhi Jia Shaoyao decoction (GSD) is widely used in the clinical treatment of knee osteoarthritis (KOA). However, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. The aim of this study was to explore functional mechanisms of GSD in treating KOA by utilizing network pharmacology-based approaches. Methods: Candidate components and targets of GSD were retrieved from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology database. NCBI, Genecards, Drugbank, and Therapeutic Target Database (TTD) were used to establish a target database for KOA. Then, an interactive network diagram of “drugs–active components–targets” was plotted with Cytoscape open source bioinformatics software. A protein–protein interaction network was constructed and related protein interaction relationships were analyzed based on the STRING database. Gene ontology analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway-enrichment analysis were conducted based on intersected targets. Molecular docking provided an assessment tool for verifying binding of components and targets. It was performed by AutoDock molecular modeling simulation software. Results: In all, 103 active components were successfully identified, and corresponding 133 targets were searched for treating KOA. Functional enrichment analysis suggested that GSD exerts its pharmacological effect in treating KOA by regulating multiple pathways, such as PI3K-Akt, tumor necrosis factor, Toll-like receptor (TLR), and nuclear factor kappa B signaling pathways. Molecular docking analysis depicted that representative components bound firmly to key targets. Conclusion: This study revealed the synergistic effects of multiple components, targets, and pathways of GSD for treating KOA. This would enhance the understanding of potential molecular mechanisms of GSD for treating KOA and lay a foundation for further experimental research.

Background: Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a worldwide disease and more and more people are suffered from it. With the increasing number of patients, it brings a huge burden on social economy and security system. There are varieties of methods to cure KOA, such as Traditional Chinese Medicine and surgery. Needle knife therapy plus Sodium hyaluronate Injection is one of the prevalent treatments for KOA. Therefore, we perform a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the evidence for the treatment of needle knife therapy plus sodium hyaluronate Injection. Methods: Randomized controlled trials will be used to compare the effect of needle knife therapy plus sodium hyaluronate injection with needle knife alone for KOA patients. Six studies will be included in this meta-analysis, and the relative risk and weight mean difference with 95% CI for the Lysholm knee score, visual analogue scale, and effective rate will be evaluated by using RevMan 5.3 software. Besides, the bias assessment of the included studies will be evaluated using the Cochrane risk of bias tool, and the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment Development, and Evaluation system will be applied to assess the overall quality of the evidence. Results: From the study we will assess the effectiveness, safety of needle knife therapy plus sodium hyaluronate injection on joint pain relief and functional improvement in patients with KOA. Conclusion: The study will provide a new evidence to confirm the effect of needle knife therapy plus sodium hyaluronate injection on KOA, which can further guide the selection of therapy. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42020169602

Background: Ankle sprain is one of the most common musculoskeletal injuries in our daily life, which may lead to chronic ankle instability, reducing the quality of patients’ life and imposing a heavy burden on social medical security system. There are many kinds of methods treating ankle sprain, which can be divided into the conservative treatments and surgical intervention. Acupuncture is one of the conservative treatments for ankle sprain, especially in China. Therefore, we perform a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the evidence for acupuncture's effectiveness, safety and cost benefits for the treatment. Methods: For the acquisition of required data of eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs), literature search will be undertaken from the following database: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), and ClinicalTrials.gov, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), VIP Database, and Wanfang database. Quality assessment of the included studies will be independently performed according to the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool by 2 investigators and the level of evidence for results will be assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) method. Statistical analysis will be conducted with Revman 5.3. Results: From the study we will assess the effectiveness, safety and cost benefit of acupuncture on pain relief and functional improvement in patients with ankle sprain. Conclusion: The conclusion of this study will provide evidence to ensure the effectiveness, safety and cost benefits of acupuncture on ankle sprain, which can further guide the selection of appropriate interventions. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42018116829.

To cite: Liang et al. Safety and efficacy of acupuncture combined with herbal medicine for Gouty arthritis: protocol for a systematic review. Inplasy protocol 202090006.