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COVID-19, derived from SARS-CoV-2, has resulted in millions of deaths and caused unprecedented socioeconomic damage since its outbreak in 2019. Although the vaccines developed against SARS-CoV-2 provide some protection, they have unexpected side effects in some people. Furthermore, new viral mutations reduce the effectiveness of the current vaccines. Thus, there is still an urgent need to develop potent non-vaccine therapeutics against this infectious disease. We recently established a series of detecting platforms to screen a large library of Chinese medicinal herbs and phytochemicals. Here, we reveal that the ethanolic extract of Evodiae Fructus and one of its components, rutaecarpine, showed promising potency in inhibiting the activity of 3C-like (3CL) protease, blocking the entry of the pseudo-typed SARS-CoV-2 (including wild-type and omicron) into cultured cells. In addition, inflammatory responses induced by pseudo-typed SARS-CoV-2 were markedly reduced by Evodiae Fructus extract and rutaecarpine. Together our data indicate that the herbal extract of Evodiae Fructus and rutaecarpine are potent anti-SARS-CoV-2 agents, which might be considered as a treatment against COVID-19 in clinical applications.

COVID-19, resulting from infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, caused a contagious pandemic. Even with the current vaccines, there is still an urgent need to develop effective pharmacological treatments against this deadly disease. Here, we show that the water and ethanol extracts of the root and rhizome of

BACKGROUND Postpartum depression is a common mental illness in puerpera, with an incidence of approximately 3.5%-33.0% abroad, and the incidence of postpartum depression in China is higher than the international level, reaching 10.0%-38.0%. Providing effective nursing care in clinical nursing activities is one of the key points of obstetrical care. However, little research has been designed to investigate the positive role of home-based nursing in the prevention of postpartum depression . AIM To study the effect of home-based nursing for postpartum depression patients on their quality of life and depression. METHODS The clinical data of 92 patients with postpartum depression treated at our hospital were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were grouped according to the nursing methods used; 40 patients receiving basic nursing were included in a basic nursing group, and 52 receiving home-based nursing were included in a home-based nursing group. Depression and anxiety were evaluated and compared between the two groups. The estradiol (E2), serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT), and progesterone (PRGE) levels were measured. RESULTS The SAS and SDS scores of the home-based nursing group were significantly lower than those of the basic nursing group (P < 0.05). The E2 and 5-HT levels of the home-based nursing group were significantly higher than those of the basic nursing group, but the PRGE level was significantly lower than that of the basic nursing group. The GQOLI-74 scores (material, social, somatic, and psychological) and nursing satisfaction were significantly higher in the home-based nursing group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Postpartum depression through home-based nursing can effectively alleviate depression and improve the quality of life of patients, help modulate their serum E2, 5-HT, and PRGE levels, and improve their satisfaction with nursing care.

Objective To explore the relationship between ERCC1 rs11615 polymorphism and chemosensitivity to platinum drugs in ovarian cancer by the method of meta-analysis. Methods Pubmed, Web of Science, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and China Wanfang databases were comprehensively searched up to September 2020, to identify the relationship between ERCC1 rs11615 polymorphism and chemosensitivity of ovarian cancer. The data was analyzed by Stata 15.0 statistic software. Results A total of 10 published papers were included, including 1866 patients with ovarian cancer. The results showed that compared allele C at ERCC1 rs11615 locus with allele T, the pooled OR was 0.92 (95%CI:0.68 ~ 1.24, P > 0.05). There were no significant differences in recessive, dominant, homozygous, and heterozygous models. In accordance with a subgroup analysis of Ethnicity, all genotypes were statistically significant in the Asian population. In the allelic, dominant, recessive, homozygous and heterozygous models, the OR was 0.70 (95%CI:0.51 ~ 0.95), 0.20 (95%CI:0.07 ~ 0.56), 0.79 (95%CI:0.63 ~ 1.00), 0.21 (95%CI:0.07 ~ 0.59), 0.19 (95%CI:0.07 ~ 0.54), respectively, while in the Caucasian population, no statistically significant genotype was found. Conclusion The ERCC1 rs11615 polymorphism is associated with chemosensitivity in patients with ovarian cancer, especially in the Asian population, but not in the Caucasian population.

Identifying ligand binding sites on proteins is a critical step in target-based drug discovery. Current approaches to this require resource-intensive screening of large libraries of lead-like or fragment molecules. Here, we describe an efficient and effective experimental approach to mapping interaction sites using a set of halogenated compounds expressing paired hydrogen-bonding motifs, termed FragLites. The FragLites identify productive drug-like interactions, which are identified sensitively and unambiguously by X-ray crystallography, exploiting the anomalous scattering of the halogen substituent. This mapping of protein interaction surfaces provides an assessment of druggability and can identify efficient start points for the de novo design of hit molecules incorporating the interacting motifs. The approach is illustrated by mapping cyclin-dependent kinase 2, which successfully identifies orthosteric and allosteric sites. The hits were rapidly elaborated to develop efficient lead-like molecules. Hence, the approach provides a new method of identifying ligand sites, assessing tractability and discovering new leads.

Globally, COVID-19 has caused millions of deaths and led to unprecedented socioeconomic damage. There is therefore, in addition to vaccination, an urgent need to develop complementary effective treatments and/or protective and preventative therapies against this deadly disease.Here, a multi-component testing platform was established to screen a library of herbal extracts from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), to identify potent herbal extracts/phytochemicals as possible therapeutics for COVID-19. We utilized assays for spike protein (S-protein) binding to angiotensin-converting enzyme II (ACE2); the enzymatic inhibition of 3CL protease; and entry of the SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus into cultured HEK293T cells and zebrafish larvae.Over a thousand herbal extracts were screened and approximately 20 positive hits were identified. Among these, we found that the water and ethanol extracts of Polygoni Multiflori Radix (PMR) significantly inhibited S-protein binding to ACE2, 3CL protease activity, and viral entry into the cell and fish models. The water extract was more effective than the ethanol extract, with ICOur results indicate that the water and ethanol extracts of PMR have an inhibitory effect on SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus host-cell entry. Furthermore, EGCG might be an active component of PMR, which blocks SARS-CoV-2 entry to cells. Taken together, our findings suggest that PMR might be considered as a potential treatment for COVID-19.

Objective: This study summarized the best evidence of early active movements in mechanically ventilated patients in the ICU and applied it in the intensive care unit of our hospital to evaluate the practical effects. Methods: The best evidence for early activity in patients with mechanical ventilation in the ICU was summarized by using an evidence-based nursing method, and the results were clinically applied in the ICU. Patients who were mechanically ventilated in the ICU from January to March 2020 were selected as the control-group, and their counterparts from April to June 2020 were enrolled as the practice-group. The control-group-patients received conventional early active mobilities, and the practice-group-patients performed the best evidence-based early active mobilities. The Barthel index, muscle strength, duration of mechanical ventilation and length of ICU stay between the two groups were compared. Results: The scores of Barthel index and muscle strength of the practice group were remarkably higher than those of the control group, and the duration of mechanical ventilation and length of ICU stay were obviously shorter than those of the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P