Exploration in the Mechanism of Ginsenoside Rg5 for the Treatment of Osteosarcoma by Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking.

OBJECTIVE: Osteosarcoma is a primary malignancy originating from mesenchymal tissue characterized by rapid growth, early metastasis and poor prognosis. Ginsenoside Rg5 (G-Rg5) is a minor ginsenoside extracted from Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer which has been discovered to possess anti-tumor properties. The objective of current study was to explore the mechanism of G-Rg5 in the treatment of osteosarcoma by network pharmacology and molecular docking technology. METHODS: Pharmmapper, SwissTargetPrediction and similarity ensemble approach databases were used to obtain the pharmacological targets of G-Rg5. Related genes of osteosarcoma were searched for in the GeneCards, OMIM and DrugBank databases. The targets of G-Rg5 and the related genes of osteosarcoma were intersected to obtain the potential target genes of G-Rg5 in the treatment of osteosarccoma. The STRING database and Cytoscape 3.8.2 software were used to construct the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, and the Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID) platform was used to perform gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses. AutoDock vina software was used to perform molecular docking between G-Rg5 and hub targets. The hub genes were imported into the Kaplan-Meier Plotter online database for survival analysis. RESULTS: A total of 61 overlapping targets were obtained. The related signaling pathways mainly included PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, Proteoglycans in cancer, Lipid and atherosclerosis and Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus infection. Six hub targets including PIK3CA, SRC, TP53, MAPK1, EGFR, and VEGFA were obtained through PPI network and targets-pathways network analyses. The results of molecular docking showed that the binding energies were all less than -7 kcal/mol. And the results of survival analysis showed TP53 and VEGFA affect the prognosis of sarcoma patients. CONCLUSION: This study explored the possible mechanism of G-Rg5 in the treatment of osteosarcoma using network pharmacology method, suggesting that G-Rg5 has the characteristics of multi-targets and multi-pathways in the treatment of osteosarcoma, which lays a foundation for the follow-up experimental and clinical researches on the therapeutic effects of G-Rg5 on osteosarcoma.

Fast and reliable determination of phthalic acid esters in soil and lettuce samples based on QuEChERS GC-MS/MS.

Phthalates are commonly used as plasticizers, and solvents in industry and households. We propose an application of the QuEChERS method for the determination of six PAEs in the soil and lettuce (roots and leaves) by GC-MS/MS. The QuEChERS method validation procedure was performed and good linearity (>0.997), recovery (97.2-99.1 %), very low detection limits (0.09-0.43 ng/g), and satisfactory inter- and intraday precision (∼4%) were obtained confirming that QuEChERS GC-MS/MS applied for PAEs determination in the environmental samples is a cheap and environmentally friendly method. In general, the higher the number of carbon atoms in PAEs, the higher the percentage noted in the lettuce roots. At higher PAEs concentration (60 ng/g) the main bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) sink were roots whereas at lower concentrations (30 ng/g) most of DEHP was noted in lettuce leaves implying that the fate of PAEs was governed not by the chemical structure of PAEs but rather partitioning (logKow).

Insight into the pharmacological effects of andrographolide in musculoskeletal disorders.

Andrographis paniculata (A. paniculata) is a traditional herbal medicine that has been widely used in Asian countries for hundreds of years. Andrographolide (AG) is a diterpene lactone extracted from A. paniculata. Owing to the in-depth study of pharmacological mechanisms, the therapeutic potential of AG, including its anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, and immunoregulatory attributes, has attracted the attention of many researchers. Studies testing the therapeutic effects of AG have demonstrated desirable results in the treatment of a variety of clinical diseases. With high safety and various biological functions, AG might be a promising candidate for the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. Here, we review all available literatures to summarize the pharmacological effects of AG and facilitate further researches on musculoskeletal diseases.

Polyaromatic hydrocarbons in biochars and human health risks of food crops grown in biochar-amended soils: A synthesis study.

Soil amendment with biochars is currently being studied worldwide as a sustainable agricultural practice to improve soil and water quality, increase crop productivity, and augment soil carbon storage. However, the formation of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) during biochar production is inevitable. Therefore, it is crucial to assess the risks in food safety and human health of crops grown in biochar-amended soils. This paper performed a synthesis study of PAH concentrations in biochars and estimated the risks of soils amended with biochars, based on refereed articles published between 2012 and 2018. The PAH concentrations in biochars ranged greatly, with the dominant proportion being 2-3 ringed PAHs (40%-71%). Biochar application increased the PAH levels in soils at drastically varying extents (0.02-3574 µg/kg), which led to a broad range of PAH concentrations in food crops grown in biochar-amended soils. A five-step method was then introduced to assess the toxicity of biochar-borne PAHs to human health. The total mean incremental lifetime cancer risk for adults was estimated to range between 2.0 × 10-6-1.9 × 10-5 via direct contact with and ingestion (inhalation) of contaminated soils or consumption of tainted crops. These results indicated that biochar amendment in soils might pose potential risks to food safety and human health, but the overall cancer risks through exposure to biochar-borne PAHs in soils and food crops were low. Higher application rates (e.g. ≥20 t/ha) of biochars with high PAH contents can be avoided to minimize human cancer risks. Although biochar application in arable farmlands has many environmental and agronomic benefits, holistic and systematic approaches are required to fully assess the benefits and risks before their large-scale adoption. PAHs in biochar may be reduced by improving the biochar production process and developing a cost-effective post-manufacturing treatment.

Contamination and health risk assessment of PAHs in soils and crops in industrial areas of the Yangtze River Delta region, China.

This is the first investigation into both soil and crop contamination and associated health risks by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in industrial areas of the Yangtze River Delta region (YRDR). Soil and crop samples were collected from farmland surrounded by three typical industries (a steelworks [SW], a petrochemical facility [PF] and a power plant [PP]), and the concentrations and health risks of PAHs in soils and crops were evaluated. The average concentrations of 16 USEPA priority PAHs in surface soil and subsoil were 471.30 µg kg-1 and 341.40 µg kg-1, respectively. The respective average concentrations of 16 PAHs in amaranth, spinach, Chinese chive, and rice tissues were 1710.49, 1176.96, 1218.36 and 352.12 µg kg-1. Based on both the results of a principal component analysis (PCA) and the PAH ratios, the main sources of the PAHs in soils were determined to be the combustion of coal and petroleum. The total values of incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) for males induced by both soils and crops were 2.19 × 10-4, 2.53 × 10-4, and 9.17 × 10-4, and for females were 2.21 × 10-4, 2.50 × 10-4, and 9.68 × 10-4 for childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, respectively. Soils contaminated with PAHs posed a lower risk than crops, but the ILCR values, 4.40 × 10-5 and 3.82 × 10-5 for males and females, was still much higher than the baseline value. The results of this investigation provide novel information for contamination evaluation and human health risk assessment in PAH-contaminated sites.

Understanding the patterns and mechanisms of urban water ecosystem degradation: phytoplankton community structure and water quality in the Qinhuai River, Nanjing City, China.

The temporal and spatial distribution characteristics of environmental parameters and the phytoplankton community were investigated in October 2010 and January 2011 in the Qinhuai River, Nanjing, China. Results showed that the water quality in the study area was generally poor, and the main parameters exceeding standards (level V) were nitrogen and phosphorus. The observed average concentrations of the total nitrogen (TN) were 4.90 mg L(-1) in autumn and 9.29 mg L(-1) in winter, and those of the total phosphorus (TP) were 0.24 mg L(-1) in autumn and 0.88 mg L(-1) in winter, respectively. Thirty-seven species, 30 genera, and four phyla of phytoplankton were detected in the river. Cyanophyta and Bacillariophyta were the dominant phyla in autumn, with average abundance and biomass of 221.5 × 10(4) cells L(-1) and 4.41 mg L(-1), respectively. The dominant population in winter was Bacillariophyta, and the average abundance and biomass were 153.4 × 10(4) cells L(-1) and 6.58 mg L(-1), respectively. The results of canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) between environmental parameters and phytoplankton communities showed that Chlorophyta could tolerate the higher concentrations of the permanganate index, nitrogen, and phosphorus in eutrophic water; Bacillariophyta could adapt well to changing water environments; and the TN/TP ratio had obvious impacts on the distributions of Cyanophyta, Euglenophyta, and some species of Chlorophyta. CCA analyses for autumn and winter data revealed that the main environmental parameters influencing phytoplankton distribution were water temperature, conductivity, and total nitrogen, and the secondary factors were dissolved oxygen, NH4(+)-N, NO3-N, TN, CODMn, TN/TP ratio, and oxidation-reduction potential.

A novel solubilization of phenanthrene using Winsor I microemulsion-based sodium castor oil sulfate.

Problems associated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) contaminated site in environmental media have received increasing attention. Ex situ soil washing is commonly used for treating contaminated soils by separating the most contaminated fraction of the soil for disposal. Surfactant-enhanced soil washing is being considered with increasing frequency to actually achieve soil-contaminant separation. In this research, a novel solubilization of phenanthrene and extraction of phenanthrene from spiked soil by sodium castor oil sulfate (SCOS) microemulsion was presented and compared with the conventional surfactants, Triton X-100 (TX100), Tween 80 (TW80), Brij35, sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). Unlike conventional surfactants, SCOS forms stable microemulsion in water and thus behaves much like a separate bulk phase in concentrating organic solutes. The extent of solubility enhancement is linearly proportional to the concentration of SCOS microemulsion, in contrast with the effect of a conventional surfactant in which a sharp inflection occurs in the vicinity of the measured critical micelle concentration. SCOS microemulsion exhibits the largest mass solubilization ratio among the selected surface active agents (SAAs) in both soil-free system and soil-water system. The partitioning coefficients of phenanthrene between the emulsified phase and the aqueous phase, Kem, is slightly larger than those between the micellar pseudo phase and the aqueous phase, Kmc. The extraction experiments demonstrate high and fast desorption of phenanthrene from spiked soil by SCOS microemulsion perhaps due to its high solubilization capacity compared with the conventional surfactant solutions. The results show that SCOS could be an attractive alternative to synthetic surfactants in ex situ washing for PAH-contaminated soils.