Departmental sources Background:Compound Kushen injection (CKI) is a traditional Chinese medicine preparation for clinical treatment of cancer pain or treatment of various types of solid tumors. The purpose of this study was to identify the main active compounds from CKI and to investigate its anti-cancer mechanisms via drug target biological network pharmacology construction and prediction. Material/Methods:Constituents of CKI were retrieved from Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology (TCMSP) database. Disease targets were collected in the Human Gene (Gene Cards) and Human Mendelian Inheritance (OMIM) databases. "Ingredients-protein targets-pathway" networks were constructed using Cytoscape. STRING database platform to construct enrichment of protein-protein interactions (PPI), related diseases and pathways network. Gene Ontology (GO) biological functions and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway of were performed to investigate by using Bioconductor tool for analysis. Results:The results indicated that 60 constituents of absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) filtration resulted in 33 constituents exhibiting significant correlations with anti-cancer and CKI may target 113 proteins, including IL6, EGFR, CASP3, VEGFA, MYC, and ESR1. GO and KEGG enrichment analysis results show that 129 biological processes and 93 signal pathways associated with cancer. It mainly involves cancers such as prostate cancer, bladder cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, etc. Active ingredients might also induce apoptosis in cancer cells via the p53 and PI3K-Akt signaling pathway mechanism. Conclusions:This study was based on pharmacological networks results for the prediction of the multi-constituent, multitarget, and multi-pathway mechanisms of CKI, which might be a promising potential therapeutic and prevention candidate for anti-cancer. However, based on computer data mining and analysis, this study still needs to be further verified by in vivo/in vitro experiments, and the safety of CKI needs to be evaluated.

Diabetes mellitus and osteoporosis are closely related and have complex influencing factors. The impact of anti-diabetic drugs on bone metabolism has received more and more attention. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) would lead to bone fragility, high risk of fracture, poor bone repair and other bone-related diseases. Furthermore, hypoglycemic drugs used to treat T2DM may have notable detrimental effects on bones. Thus, the clinically therapeutic strategy for T2DM should not only effectively control the patient’s glucose levels, but also minimize the complications of bone metabolism diseases. Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) are novel and promising drug for the treatment of T2DM. Some studies have found that GLP-1RAs may play an anti-osteoporotic effect by controlling blood sugar levels, promoting bone formation and inhibiting bone resorption. However, in clinical practice, the specific effects of GLP-1RA on fracture risk and osteoporosis have not been clearly defined and evidenced. This review summarizes the current research findings by which GLP-1RAs treatment of diabetic osteoporosis, postmenopausal osteoporosis and glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis and describes possible mechanisms, such as GLP-1R/MAPK signaling pathway, GLP-1R/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway and Wnt/β-catenin pathway, that are associated with GLP-1RAs and osteoporosis. The specific role and related mechanisms of GLP-1RAs in the bone metabolism of patients with different types of osteoporosis need to be further explored and clarified.

We investigated home-field advantage (HFA) effects on aquatic macrophyte decomposition in a eutrophic urban lake. • T. natans showed a positive HFA effect but M. spicatum showed a negative one. • HFA was strongly mediated by litter quality, habitat, and their interactions. • The presence of living plants had inconsistent effects on decomposition rate and occurrence of HFA.

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a kind of movement and posture disorder syndrome in early childhood. In recent years, human mesenchymal stem cell (hMSC) transplantation has become a promising therapeutic strategy for CP. However, clinical evidence is still limited and controversial about clinical efficacy of hMSC therapy for CP. Our aim is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of hMSC transplantation for children with CP using a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). We conducted a systematic literature search including Embase, PubMed, ClinicalTrials.gov, Cochrane Controlled Trials Register databases, Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, and Web of Science from building database to February 2020. We used Cochrane bias risk assessment for the included studies. The result of pooled analysis showed that hMSC therapy significantly increased gross motor function measure (GMFM) scores (standardized mean difference SMD=1.10, 95%CI=0.66‐1.53, P<0.00001, high-quality evidence) and comprehensive function assessment (CFA) (SMD=1.30, 95%CI=0.71‐1.90, P<0.0001, high-quality evidence) in children with CP, compared with the control group. In the subgroup analysis, the results showed that hMSC therapy significantly increased GMFM scores of 3, 6, and 12 months and CFA of 3, 6, and 12 months. Adverse event (AE) of upper respiratory infection, diarrhea, and constipation was not statistically significant between the two groups. This meta-analysis synthesized the primary outcomes and suggested that hMSC therapy is beneficial, effective, and safe in improving GMFM scores and CFA scores in children with CP. In addition, subgroup analysis showed that hMSC therapy has a lasting positive benefit for CP in 3, 6, and 12 months.