Malignant melanoma is a life-threatening form of skin cancer with a low response rate to single-agent chemotherapy. Although combined therapies of metformin (MET) and doxorubicin (DOX) are effective in treating a variety of cancers, including breast cancer, their different physicochemical properties and administration routines reduce the effective co-accumulation of both drugs in tumors. Nanoparticles (NPs) have been demonstrated to potentially improve drug delivery efficiency in cancer therapy of, for example, liver and lung cancers. Hence,...

Selenium is an important micronutrient for foetal development. MicroRNAs play an important role in the function of the placenta, in communication between the placenta and maternal systems, and their expression can be altered through environmental and nutritional cues. To investigate the associations between placental selenium concentration and microRNA expression in the placenta, our observational study included 393 mother-child pairs from the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study (NHBCS) and the Rhode Island Child Health Study (RICHS)....

Vascular calcification is a major complication of chronic renal failure, which has been identified as an active process partly driven by osteogenic transition of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Aspirin could prevent cardiomyocyte damage by inducing heat shock response. This study investigates the effect of aspirin on alleviating VSMC calcification. An in vitro VSMC calcification model was established by 10-day calcification induction in osteogenic medium. VSMCs were grouped as following: control group (normal medium), calcified...

Early detection of neurodevelopmental delay is crucial for intervention and treatment strategies. We analysed associations between newborn DNA methylation (DNAm), neonatal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) neuroimaging data, and neurodevelopment. Neurodevelopment was assessed in 161 children from the South African Drakenstein Child Health Study at 2 years of age using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development III. We performed an epigenome-wide association study of neurodevelopmental delay using DNAm from cord blood. Subsequently, we analysed...

To examine the relationship between periconceptional folate exposure and risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Several electronic databases, including PubMed, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China Biology Medicine (CBM), and Cochrane Library, were searched for all relevant cohort studies by January 2021. Studies on relationship between folate exposure (intake or status) and GDM risk were included. Quality of included studies was assessed using Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Random effects meta-analysis was performed to estimate overall odds...

Snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is low in fat and high in nutrients; however, it also contains toxigenic factors such as phytohemagglutinin (PHA), which is poisonous to humans. Here, we aimed to determine the distribution of PHA in natural populations of snap bean by analyzing a candidate gene (PHA-E) related to PHA content. Functional genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were then scanned to identify SNPs related to PHA content. A total of 150 snap bean...

COVID-19 pandemic was started in Wuhan city of China in December 2019; immensely affected global population. Herein, an effort was made to identify potential inhibitors from active phytochemicals of Pueraria tuberosa (PTY-2) via molecular docking study. Our study showed five potential inhibitors (Robinin, Genistin, Daidzin, Hydroxytuberosone, Tuberostan) against Mpro and five inhibitors (Robinin, Anhydrotuberosin, Daidzin, Hydroxytuberosone, Stigmasterol) against TMPRSS2. Out of these, Robinin, Daidzin and Hydroxytuberosone were common inhibitors for Mpro and TMPRSS2. Among these,...

Malignant melanoma is a life-threatening form of skin cancer with a low response rate to single-agent chemotherapy. Although combined therapies of metformin (MET) and doxorubicin (DOX) are effective in treating a variety of cancers, including breast cancer, their different physicochemical properties and administration routines reduce the effective co-accumulation of both drugs in tumors. Nanoparticles (NPs) have been demonstrated to potentially improve drug delivery efficiency in cancer therapy of, for example, liver and lung cancers. Hence,...

As a form of pollution source control and a low-impact development measure, bioretention is a convenient, economical, and effective method for the removal of heavy metals from stormwater runoff, which can adapt to the randomness and uncontrollability of non-point source pollution. However, few studies have assessed the performance of bioretention in the simultaneous removal of multiple heavy metals and the impact of heavy metal migration on the bioretention life cycle. In this study, the removal...

COVID-19 pandemic was started in Wuhan city of China in December 2019; immensely affected global population. Herein, an effort was made to identify potential inhibitors from active phytochemicals of Pueraria tuberosa (PTY-2) via molecular docking study. Our study showed five potential inhibitors (Robinin, Genistin, Daidzin, Hydroxytuberosone, Tuberostan) against Mpro and five inhibitors (Robinin, Anhydrotuberosin, Daidzin, Hydroxytuberosone, Stigmasterol) against TMPRSS2. Out of these, Robinin, Daidzin and Hydroxytuberosone were common inhibitors for Mpro and TMPRSS2. Among these,...

Selenium is an important micronutrient for foetal development. MicroRNAs play an important role in the function of the placenta, in communication between the placenta and maternal systems, and their expression can be altered through environmental and nutritional cues. To investigate the associations between placental selenium concentration and microRNA expression in the placenta, our observational study included 393 mother-child pairs from the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study (NHBCS) and the Rhode Island Child Health Study (RICHS)....

Phytochemical investigation on the concentrate of Huangjing wine, resulted in the isolation of three new tyrosol derivatives 4′′′-hydroxyphenethyl 2-(R)-hydroxy-3-phenylpropionate (1), 4′′′-hydroxyphenethyl(4′-hydroxy-3′-methoxyphenyl)propionate (2) and 4′′-hydroxyphenethyl ethyl succinate (3), together with 5 known compounds, ferulic acid (4), L-phenyllactic acid (5), hydroxytyrosol (6), dihydroferulic acid (7), cyclo(L-Pro-D-Tyr) (8). Their structures were elucidated using spectroscopic analysis and by comparison with the literature data. All compounds displayed antioxidant effect in the DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radical. Among them, the new compound 2...

To examine the relationship between periconceptional folate exposure and risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Several electronic databases, including PubMed, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China Biology Medicine (CBM), and Cochrane Library, were searched for all relevant cohort studies by January 2021. Studies on relationship between folate exposure (intake or status) and GDM risk were included. Quality of included studies was assessed using Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Random effects meta-analysis was performed to estimate overall odds...

Snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is low in fat and high in nutrients; however, it also contains toxigenic factors such as phytohemagglutinin (PHA), which is poisonous to humans. Here, we aimed to determine the distribution of PHA in natural populations of snap bean by analyzing a candidate gene (PHA-E) related to PHA content. Functional genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were then scanned to identify SNPs related to PHA content. A total of 150 snap bean...

Vascular calcification is a major complication of chronic renal failure, which has been identified as an active process partly driven by osteogenic transition of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Aspirin could prevent cardiomyocyte damage by inducing heat shock response. This study investigates the effect of aspirin on alleviating VSMC calcification. An in vitro VSMC calcification model was established by 10-day calcification induction in osteogenic medium. VSMCs were grouped as following: control group (normal medium), calcified...

Early detection of neurodevelopmental delay is crucial for intervention and treatment strategies. We analyzed associations between newborn DNA methylation (DNAm), neonatal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) neuroimaging data, and neurodevelopment. Neurodevelopment was assessed in 161 children from the South African Drakenstein Child Health Study at two years of age using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development III. We performed an epigenome-wide association study of neurodevelopmental delay using DNAm from cord blood. Subsequently, we analyzed...

As a form of pollution source control and a low-impact development measure, bioretention is a convenient, economical, and effective method for the removal of heavy metals from stormwater runoff, which can adapt to the randomness and uncontrollability of non-point source pollution. However, few studies have assessed the performance of bioretention in the simultaneous removal of multiple heavy metals and the impact of heavy metal migration on the bioretention life cycle. In this study, the removal...