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Secondary metabolites (SMs) found in medicinal plants are one of main sources of drugs, cosmetics, and health products. With the increase in demand for these bioactive compounds, improving the content and yield of SMs in medicinal plants has become increasingly important. The content and distribution of SMs in medicinal plants are closely related to environmental factors, especially light. In recent years, artificial light sources have been used in controlled environments for the production and conservation of medicinal germplasm. Therefore, it is essential to elucidate how light affects the accumulation of SMs in different plant species. Here, we systematically summarize recent advances in our understanding of the regulatory roles of light quality, light intensity, and photoperiod in the biosynthesis of three main types of SMs (polyphenols, alkaloids, and terpenoids), and the underlying mechanisms. This article provides a detailed overview of the role of light signaling pathways in SM biosynthesis, which will further promote the application of artificial light sources in medicinal plant production.

The dry root tuber of Stephania epigaea contained 36.5% starch, indicating a good starch source. In this study, starch was isolated from S. epigaea. Its morphology, physicochemical, and functional properties were investigated and compared with potato and maize starches. S. epigaea starch had small spherical granules with centric hila and large ellipsoidal granules with eccentric hila, and granule sizes varied from 7 to 40 μm. The starch had 33.9% amylose content and B-type crystallinity. The gelatinization onset, peak, and final temperatures were 59.4, 62.3, and 66.2°C, respectively, and were lower than those of potato and maize starches, but the enthalpy (16.3 J/g) was higher than that of potato and maize starches. The peak, hot, final, and breakdown viscosities were 2227, 1623, 2149, and 594 dPa s, respectively, and were significantly higher than those of maize starch and lower than those of potato starch. S. epigaea starch was more susceptible to amylase hydrolysis and in vitro digestion than potato starch and less than maize starch. This study would be useful for the applications of starch from S. epigaea in the food and non-food industries.

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Background: Although traditional multi-incision laparoscopic surgery is minimally invasive, it can still leave surgical scars on the lower abdomen. This study reports a modified Vecchietti-laparoendoscopic singlesite (MVLESS) procedure using self-made instruments to create a neovagina for Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome (MRKHS) and to determine the efficacy and safety.Methods: We conducted a retrospective comparative cohort study analysis of the clinical data from MRKHS patients treated in the Department of Difficult Gynecological Disease at Xi'an People's Hospital between January 2010 and December 2020.Women who were diagnosed with MRKHS and underwent a MVLESS procedure using self-made instruments to create a new vagina were selected as the study group (n=14). Patients who underwent a traditional multi-incision Vecchietti (TMV) procedure were selected as the control group (n=22). All participants in both groups were required to complete a Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) and Female Genital Self-Image Scale (FGSIS) questionnaire.Results: All patients in the study group were diagnosed with type I MRKHS and 3 (21.43%) were sexually active. Twenty-one patients in the control group were diagnosed with type I (95.45%) MRKHS, 1 (4.55%) had type II MRKHS (absent left kidney), and 6 (27.27%) were sexually active. The neovaginas in both groups were wide with good elasticity, softness, smoothness, and lubrication. There were no significant differences in operative time (37±6 vs. 39±4 minutes, P=0.98), intraoperative bleeding (28.32±9.82 vs. 29.45±3.84 mL, P=0.86), postoperative anal exsufflation time (18±4 vs. 20±4 hours, P=0.82), and postoperative hospital stay (7±2 vs. 8±2 days, P=0.84) between the MVLESS and TMV groups. The FSFI and FGSIS scores in both groups showed participants had a good quality of sexual life based on the 12-month follow-up data; however,function was significantly better in the study group than in the control group [lubrication (4.72±0.86 vs. 4.64±1.01, P=0.023), visual analog scale (VAS; 4.26±0.52 vs. 4.45±0.39, P=0.041), total FSFI scores (30.21±4.32 vs. 28.42±2.21, P=0.048), and FGSIS score (23.21±1.98 vs. 22.14±2.04, P=0.012)]. Conclusions:The MVLESS procedure is a simple, safe, and minimally invasive procedure that provides an anatomical and functional neovagina for MRKHS patients. It is an alternative method for creating a neovagina to achieve satisfactory anatomic and sexual function. However, it is still a difficult problem to solve fertility problems for patients with congenital absence of vagina.

This study aims to analyse the influencing factors for High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) ablation in treatment of uterine fibroids. Fifty-one uterine fibroids patients with 76 uterine fibroids were enrolled in this study. All patients received the HIFU ablation of uterine fibroids. The treatment efficacy was evaluated. The residual rate of ablation was calculated. The influencing factors related to the treatment outcome of HIFU ablation were analysed. Results showed that, in 76 uterine fibroids, 25 (32.9%) cases obtained effective treatment outcome, with residual rate ≥ 50%, and 51 (67.1%) cases obtained remarkably effective treatment outcome, with residual rate<50%. The treatment outcome had significant difference among subserous, submucous and intramural fibroid type (χ 2 =6.614, P=0.037), among fibroid position of posterior wall, fundus uteri and anterior wall (χ 2 =11.410, P=0.003), between fibroid size of <5 cm and ≥ 5 cm (χ 2 =4.259, P=0.039), and among low, equal and high contrast enhancement (χ 2 =6.153, P=0.046). The logistic regression analysis showed that, the fibroid position was the independent risk factor of treatment outcome, with odds ratio of 2.545 (1.175-5.513). In conclusion, the fibroid type, fibroid position, fibroid size, and contrast enhancement are significantly related to the outcome of HIFU ablation in treatment of uterine fibroids. The fibroid position is the independent risk factor for treatment outcome.