The preadolescent period is a rapid and critical stage of skeletal development. Poor skeletal development during this period can exert profound impacts on children's growth, motor function, psychosocial adaptability, and long-term quality of life. Current interventional strategies for poor skeletal development primarily focus on improving nutrition, enhancing physical activity, maintaining healthy lifestyle habits, and supplementing calcium preparations or growth hormone (GH). However, these approaches yield limited efficacy, and GH supplementation may induce adverse effects. Therefore, identifying safe and effective strategies for improving skeletal development remain a persistent clinical challenge. Recently, the discovery of the "gut-bone axis" has introduced a novel direction for improving skeletal development through gut microbiota modulation. Nonetheless, research in this field remains in its nascent stage. Animal experiments and clinical trials are scarce, mechanistic explorations are insufficient, and clinical translation is constrained. To systematically elucidate the role of gut microbiota in skeletal development (rather than bone-related diseases). Our review revealed that the "gut-bone axis" plays a crucial role in the process of skeletal development. Certain bacteria (e.g., Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium) can serve as probiotics to promote skeletal development, which expanding novel application scenarios for probiotics. Mechanically, gut microbiota-derived metabolites-particularly short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs)-improving skeletal development through multiple pathways, including enhancing nutrient absorption, regulating the GH/IGF-1 signaling pathway, modulating immune function and inhibiting inflammatory responses, as well as directly modulating the expression of bone-related factors. Altogether, the potential of gut microbiota in skeletal development merits attention, yet its efficacy validation and mechanistic exploration require further research support. Future investigations in this field are poised to provide innovative solutions for pediatric growth and development issues, facilitating breakthroughs in clinical challenges.

Two new malic acid derivatives, namely eucomic acid 1-methyl ester (2) and 6′′′-acetylmilitaline (7), together with ten known compounds (1, 3–6, 8–12), were isolated from the dry tubers of Bletilla striata (Thunb.) Reichb. F., a perennial traditional Chinese medicinal herb, which was used for the treatment of pneumonophthisis, pneumonorrhagia, tuberculosis, and hemorrhage of the stomach or lung. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analyses, including 1D-, 2D-NMR, and HR-ESI-MS.

Two rare guanidine-type alkaloids, Buthutin A (1) and Buthutin B (2), along with two other compounds (3, 4), were isolated from Buthus martensii Karsch, and determined using extensive spectroscopic data analysis and high resolution-mass spectrometry. Compound 1 showed the most potent inhibition on AChE and BChE with IC₅₀ values of 7.83 ± 0.06 and 47.44 ± 0.95 μM, respectively. Kinetic characterization of compound 1 confirmed a mixed-type of AChE inhibition mechanism in accordance with the docking results, which shows its interaction with both catalytic active (CAS) and peripheral anionic (PAS) sites. The specific binding of compound 1 to PAS domain of AChE was also confirmed experimentally. Moreover, compounds 1 and 3 exhibited satisfactory biometal binding abilities toward Cu²⁺, Fe²⁺, Zn²⁺ and Al³⁺ ions. These results provide a new evidence for further development and utilization of B. martensii in health and pharmaceutical products.

A chemical investigation on 70% EtOH extract from the bark of Phellodendron chinense Schneid (Rutaceae) led to six new methyl apiofuranosides (1–6), and ten known compounds (7–16). All these compounds were characterized by the basic analysis of the spectroscopic data including extensive 1D-, 2D-NMR (HSQC, HMBC), and high-resolution mass spectrometry, and the absolute configurations were determined by both empirical approaches and NOESY. Inhibitory effects of compounds 1–9 and 11–16 on nitric oxide production were investigated in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-mediated RAW 264.7 cells, as a result, most of these isolates inhibited nitric oxide (NO) release, and among them 9, 11, and 12 displayed the strongest inhibition on NO release at the concentration of 12.5 μM.

A series of novel 4-N-phenylaminoquinoline derivatives containing a morpholine group were designed and synthesized, and their anti-cholinesterase activities and ABTS radical-scavenging activities were tested. Among them, compounds 11a, 11g, 11h, 11j, 11l, and 12a had comparable inhibition activities to reference galantamine in AChE. Especially, compound 11g revealed the most potent inhibition on AChE and BChE with IC₅₀ values of 1.94 ± 0.13 μM and 28.37 ± 1.85 μM, respectively. The kinetic analysis demonstrated that both the compounds 11a and 11g acted as mixed-type AChE inhibitors. A further docking comparison between the 11a- and 12a-AChE complexes agreed with the different inhibitory potency observed in experiments. Besides, compounds 11f and 11l showed excellent ABTS radical-scavenging activities, with IC₅₀ values of 9.07 ± 1.34 μM and 6.05 ± 1.17 μM, respectively, which were superior to the control, Trolox (IC₅₀ = 11.03 ± 0.76 μM). It is worth noting that 3-aminoquinoline derivatives 12a–12d exhibited better drug-like properties.