The increasing and widespread application of antibacterial drugs makes antibiotic resistance a prominent and growing concern in clinical practice. The emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria presents a global threat. However, the development and use of novel antibacterial agents involves time-consuming and costly challenges that may lead to yet further drug resistance. More recently, researchers have turned to traditional Chinese medicine to stem the rise of antibiotic resistance in pathogens. Many studies have shown traditional Chinese medicines to have significant bacteriostatic and bactericidal effects, with the advantage of low drug resistance. Some of which when combined with antibiotics, have also demonstrated antibacterial activity by synergistic effect. Traditional Chinese medicine has a variety of active components, including flavonoids, alkaloids, phenols, and quinones, which can inhibit the growth of drug-resistant bacteria and be used in combination with a variety of antibiotics to treat various drug-resistant bacterial infections. We reviewed the interaction between the active ingredients of traditional Chinese medicines and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. At present, flavonoids and alkaloids are the active ingredients that have been most widely studied, with significant synergistic activity demonstrated when used in combination with antibiotics against drug-resistant bacteria. The reviewed studies show that traditional Chinese medicine and its active ingredients have antimicrobial activity on antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which may enhance the susceptibility of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, potentially reduce the required dosage of antibacterial agents and the rate of drug resistance. Our results provide direction for finding and developing alternative methods to counteract drug-resistant bacteria, offering a new therapeutic strategy for tackling antibiotic resistance.

Ischemic stroke in rodents is usually induced by intraluminal middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) via the common carotid artery plugging filament invented by Koizumi et al. (MCAO-KM), or the external carotid artery plugging filament created by Zea Longa et al. (MCAO-LG). A systematic review of the distinctions between them is currently lacking. Here, we performed a meta-analysis in terms of model establishment, cerebral blood flow (CBF), and cerebral ischemia–reperfusion injury (CIRI) between them, Weighted Mean Differences and Standardized Mean Difference were used to analyze the combined effects, Cochrane's Q test and the I² statistic were applied to determine heterogeneity, sensitivity analysis and subgroup analysis were performed to explore the source of heterogeneity. Literature mining suggests that MCAO-KM brings shorter operation time (p = 0.007), higher probability of plugging filament (p < 0.001) and molding establishment (p = 0.006), lower possibility of subarachnoid hemorrhage (p = 0.02), larger infarct volume (p = 0.003), severer brain edema (p = 0.002), and neurological deficits (p = 0.03). Nevertheless, MCAO-LG shows a more adequate CBF after ischemia–reperfusion (p < 0.001), a higher model survival rate (p = 0.02), and a greater infarct rate (p = 0.007). In conclusion, the MCAO-KM method is simple to operate with a high modeling success rate, and is suitable for the study of brain edema under long-term hypoperfusion, while the MCAO-LG method is highly challenging for novices, and is suitable for the study of CIRI caused by complete ischemia–reperfusion. These findings are expected to benefit the selection of intraluminal filament MCAO models before undertaking ischemic stroke preclinical effectiveness trials.

Hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and coronary artery disease are common comorbidities and dangerous factors for infection and serious COVID-19. Polymorphisms in genes associated with comorbidities may help observe susceptibility and disease severity variation. However, specific genetic factors and the extent to which they can explain variation in susceptibility of severity are unclear. Therefore, we evaluated candidate genes associated with COVID-19 and hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and coronary artery disease. In particular, we performed searches against OMIM, NCBI, and other databases, protein-protein interaction network construction, and GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses. Results showed that the associated overlapping genes were TLR4, NLRP3, MBL2, IL6, IL1RN, IL1B, CX3CR1, CCR5, AGT, ACE, and F2. GO and KEGG analyses yielded 302 GO terms (q < 0.05) and 29 signaling pathways (q < 0.05), respectively, mainly including coronavirus disease-COVID-19 and cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction. IL6 and AGT were central in the PPI, with 8 and 5 connections, respectively. In this study, we identified 11 genes associated with both COVID-19 and three comorbidities that may contribute to infection and disease severity. The key genes IL6 and AGT are involved in regulating immune response, cytokine activity, and viral infection. Therefore, RAAS inhibitors, AGT antisense nucleotides, cytokine inhibitors, vitamin D, fenofibrate, and vaccines regulating non-immune and immune factors could be potential strategies to prevent and cure COVID-19. The study provides a basis for further investigation of genes and pathways with predictive value for the risk of infection and prognosis and could help guide drug and vaccine development to improve treatment efficacy and the development of personalised treatments, especially for COVID-19 individuals with common comorbidities.

Breast cancer is one of the frequent tumors that seriously endanger the physical and mental well-being in women. F-box and WD repeat domain-containing 7 (FBXW7) is a neoplastic repressor. Serving as a substrate recognition element for ubiquitin ligase, FBXW7 participates in the ubiquitin–proteasome system and is typically in charge of the ubiquitination and destruction of crucial oncogenic proteins, further performing a paramount role in cell differentiation, apoptosis and metabolic processes. Low levels of FBXW7 cause abnormal stability of pertinent substrates, mutations and/or deletions in the FBXW7 gene have been reported to correlate with breast cancer malignant progression and chemoresistance. Given the lack of an effective solution to breast cancer's clinical drug resistance dilemma, elucidating FBXW7's mechanism of action could provide a theoretical basis for targeted drug exploration. Therefore, in this review, we focused on FBXW7's role in a range of breast cancer malignant behaviors and summarized the pertinent cellular targets, signaling pathways, as well as the mechanisms regulating FBXW7 expression. We also proposed novel perspectives for the exploitation of alternative therapies and specific tumor markers for breast cancer by therapeutic strategies aiming at FBXW7.

Diabetes mellitus comprises a group of heterogeneous disorders, which are usually subdivided into type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Both genetic and environmental factors have been implicated in the onset of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes primarily involves autoimmune insulin deficiency. In comparison, type 2 diabetes is contributed by the pathological state of insulin deficiency and insulin resistance. In recent years, significant differences were found in the abundance of microflora, intestinal barrier, and intestinal metabolites in diabetic subjects when compared to normal subjects. To further understand the relationship between diabetes mellitus and intestinal flora, this paper summarizes the interaction mechanism between diabetes mellitus and intestinal flora. Furthermore, the natural compounds found to treat diabetes through intestinal flora were classified and summarized. This review is expected to provide a valuable resource for the development of new diabetic drugs and the applications of natural compounds.