Methamphetamine (METH) abuse remains a significant public health concern globally owing to its strong addictive properties. Prolonged abuse of the drug causes irreversible damage to the central nervous system. To date, no efficient pharmacological interventions are available, primarily due to the unclear mechanisms underlying METH action in the brain. Recently, microRNAs (miRNAs) have been identified to play critical roles in various cellular processes. The expression levels of some miRNAs are altered after METH administration, which may influence the transcription of target genes to regulate METH toxicity or addiction. This review summarizes the miRNAs in the context of METH use, discussing their role in the reward effect and neurotoxic sequelae. Better understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in METH would be helpful for the development of new therapeutic strategies in reducing the harm of the drug.

Skeletal muscle injury is an acute inflammatory condition caused by an inflammatory response. To reduce inflammatory cell infiltration and relieve skeletal muscle injury, efficient treatment is urgently needed. Nitric oxide is a free radical molecule reported to have anti-inflammatory effects. In this study, we showed that NO could inhibit the inflammatory response of C2C12 cells in vitro and protect rat skeletal muscle injury from notexin in vivo. NO synthase inhibitor (L-NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Este, L-NAME) and NO donor (sodium nitroprusside dehydrate, SNP) were used to explore the vital role of lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) in LPS-stimulated C2C12 myoblasts.The expression of IL-18 and IL-1β was upregulated by L-NAME and downregulated by SNP, as indicated by the ELISA results. NO can reduce ASC, Caspase-1, and NLRP3 mRNA and protein levels. Furthermore, NO was detected in the rat model. The results of immunohistochemical staining showed that the production of DMD decreased. We conducted qRT-PCR and western blotting to detect the expression of Jo-1, Mi-2, TLR2, and TLR4 on day 6 post injury following treatment with L-NAME and SNP. The expression of Jo-1, Mi-2, TLR2, and TLR4 was upregulated by L-NAME and significantly reversed by SNP. NO can alleviate C2C12 cell inflammatory responses and protect rat skeletal muscle injury from notexin.

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Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is among the most common injuries in forensic medicine, the identification of which is of particular importance in forensic practice. To reveal the circumstances and trends of TBI in the forensic field, we used the Web of Science (WoS) database for comprehensive retrieval. We made a metrological analysis of 1,089 papers in the past 50 years (1972–2021). The United States and Germany have the most forensic research on TBI. Diffuse axonal injury (DAI) has been the focus of attention for many years, and much effort has been devoted to its diagnosis in forensic pathology. Infants and children are the subgroups of most concern, especially in infant and child abuse cases. Research on identifying shaken baby syndrome has received increasing attention in recent years. Overall, our study provides a comprehensive list and analysis of the articles regarding TBI in legal medicine, which may shed light on recognizing the trends and research hotspots in this field.