The composition characteristics of endophytic communities and their relationship with metabolites profile in Ephedra sinica under wild and cultivated conditions.

Ephedra sinica is one of the most famous Chinese medicinal plants. The insufficient supply of wild resources has led to the increased use of cultivated products. However, the related medicinal quality differs significantly.

Unblinding at disease progression in double-blinded randomized controlled cancer drug clinical trials: A controversy requires more attention.

Unblinding at disease progression in double-blinded randomized controlled cancer drug clinical trials is ethical to the patient by ensuring optimal subsequent treatment, but the effect of study treatment on overall survival may be confounded. The views of science and ethics in this issue are controversial and the unblinding procedures should be well-designed. In real world settings, a lack of use of this unblinding process in protocol was observed in the analysis of 134 double-blind randomized controlled anticancer drug clinical trials conducted in China from 2018 to 2021.

Targeting rare tumors: new focus for clinical research in China.

Rare tumor has a huge unmet medical need without standard regimens, calling for novel therapeutic interventions. The National Cancer Center of China identified a threshold of incidence for rare tumor as 2.5/100,000, based on the characteristics of Chinese population.

The reliability and integrity of overall survival data based on follow-up records only and potential solutions to the challenges.

Overall survival (OS) is considered the standard clinical endpoint to support effectiveness claims in new drug applications globally, particularly for lethal conditions such as cancer. However, the source and reliability of OS in the setting of clinical trials have seldom been doubted and discussed. This study first raised the common issue that data integrity and reliability are doubtful when we collect OS information or other time-to-event endpoints based solely on simple follow-up records by investigators without supporting material, especially since the 2019 COVID-19 pandemic.

Transcriptional Regulatory Mechanism of Differential Metabolite Formation in Root and Stem of Ephedra sinica.

Ephedra sinica, a well-known Chinese medicinal plant, is characterized as having the opposite medicinal effect among its root and stem. However, there is a lack of understanding to differentiate the active components present in the root and stem of E. sinica, as well as the molecular mechanisms underlying the formation of the differential compounds, which has significantly hampered the further development and utilization of E.

Species and geographic specificity between endophytic fungi and host supported by parasitic Cynomorium songaricum and its host Nitraria tangutorum distributed in desert.

This study was aimed to investigate whether host plant species and lifestyles, and environmental conditions in the desert affect endophytic fungi composition. Endophytic fungal communities from parasitic plant Cynomorium songaricum and its host Nitraria tangutorum were investigated from three sites including Tonggu Naoer, Xilin Gaole, and Guazhou in Tengger and Badain Jaran Deserts in China using the next-generation sequencing of a ribosomal RNA gene region. Similarity and difference in endophytic fungal composition from different geographic locations were evaluated through multivariate statistical analysis.

A review of the phytochemistry and pharmacological activities of Ephedra herb.

Ephedra herb is a traditional Chinese medicine with a long history. Conventionally, it was used as a folk phytomedicine in many ancient medical books and traditional prescriptions. Up to date, a variety of specific ingredients have been found in Ephedra herb, mainly including alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, polysaccharides, organic acids, volatile oils, and many other active compounds.