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The pathogenesis of epilepsy is related to the microbiota-gut-brain axis, but the mechanism has not been clarified. The microbiota-gut-brain axis is divided into the microbiota-gut-brain axis (upward pathways) and the brain-gut-microbiota axis (downward pathways) according to the direction of conduction. Gut microorganisms are involved in pathological and physiological processes in the human body and participate in epileptogenesis through neurological, immunological, endocrine, and metabolic pathways, as well as through the gut barrier and blood brain barrier mediated upward pathways. After epilepsy, the downward pathway mediated by the HPA axis and autonomic nerves triggers “leaky brain “and “leaky gut,” resulting in the formation of microbial structures and enterobacterial metabolites associated with epileptogenicity, re-initiating seizures via the upward pathway. Characteristic changes in microbial and metabolic pathways in the gut of epileptic patients provide new targets for clinical prevention and treatment of epilepsy through the upward pathway. Based on these changes, this review further redescribes the pathogenesis of epilepsy and provides a new direction for its prevention and treatment.

BackgroundGastrointestinal (GI) symptoms are frequently experienced by children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and these symptoms cause difficulties for these children and their families. However, studies of GI symptom prevalence differ significantly. This meta-analysis aimed to analyze the prevalence of GI symptoms in children with ASD.Methods and findingsPubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, EMBASE were electronically searched to collect all literature on gastrointestinal symptoms of children with ASD collected through questionnaires or scales from January 2012 to May 2021. Four researchers independently scanned the literature and extracted information on general characteristics. First author name, year of publication, geographical location, type of study, sample sizes of ASD and control (if any) children, sex and average age, number of GI cases, number of GI symptoms, GI assessment tools (gastrointestinal symptoms scale), autism diagnosis methods, and other necessary data were collected and analyzed using Stata V16. The questionnaires included the Rome, 6-GSI, GIQ, GSRS, GSIQ, ADI-R, PedsQL-GI, parent-report, GI-related, and self-administered questionnaires. Compared with typically developing (TD) children, the odds ratio for In children with ASD with at least one GI symptom was 3.64, and the total prevalence was 55%. The cumulative prevalence rates of various symptoms were summarized, showing that 37% of children with ASD had constipation, 21% had abdominal pain, 19% had diarrhea, 8% had vomiting, and 23% had abdominal distension.ConclusionsThe results of this meta-analysis on GI symptoms in ASD show that patients with ASD are more likely to develop symptoms than TD children. The prevalence of GI symptoms in In children with ASD was 55%.Systematic Review Registrationwww.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO, identifier, #CRD42017080579.

Since its inception, synthetic biology has overcome many technical barriers but is at a crossroads for high-precision biological design. Devising ways to fully utilize big biological data may be the key to achieving greater heights in synthetic biology.

Objective: There are many prescriptions of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) against ischemic stroke (IS) with radix astragali as the monarch medicine, such as Buyang Huanwu Decoction, in which the amount of radix astragali is as high as 120 g, we can see that radix astragali plays a significant role in the treatment of ischemic stroke. The research aims to define bioactive compounds, potential targets, pathways, and possible molecular mechanisms of radix astragali in treating IS based on network pharmacology and molecular docking techniques. Methods: Potential active compounds of radix astragali were collected from Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform Database (TCMSP), ETCM (Encyclopedia of Traditional Chinese Medicine), BATMAN-TCM (Bioinformatics Analysis Tool for Molecular Mechanism of TCM) and literature, and radix astragali targets were predicted using Swiss Target Prediction platform. GeneCards, TTD (Therapeutic Target Database), OMIM (Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man), and DrugBank were employed to retrieve IS-related targets. They were then overlapped to obtain intersections. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed using STRING online database, and core targets were screened using network topology analysis. The biological function process and signaling pathways underlying key targets were executed using gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathway, whereas enrichment and cluster analyses were conducted using Database for Annotation, Visualization, and Integrated Discovery (DAVID). Cytoscape 3.6.0 constructed the core target network and component-target-pathway network to analyze. Molecular docking to determine whether active compounds had a definite affinity for core targets by AutoDock Vina software. Results: In this study, 60 active compounds of radix astragali were obtained, together with 1098 corresponding targets, 1386 IS-related targets, and 279 intersecting target genes. Furthermore, ten key molecular targets of radix astragali for IS were collected, including AKT1, ALB, ACTB, TNF, IL6, IL1B, MAPK3, VEGFA, CASP3, and JUN. The key KEGG signaling pathways mainly include PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, cAMP signaling pathway, Ras signaling pathway, HIF-1 signaling pathway, Rap1 signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, and TNF signaling pathway. Further molecular docking results indicated that the two main compounds had a high affinity for the three core targets. Conclusions: This study established that practicable mechanisms of radix astragali against IS would be linked to neuroprotective effects, improved cerebral blood flow, apoptosis inhibition of cerebral ischemia tissue cells, mediating inflammation, and radix astragali may be used as the effective traditional Chinese medicine in clinical treatment of IS .