Sulforaphane (SFN) extracted from broccoli sprout has previously been investigated for its potential properties in cancers, however, the underlying mechanisms of the anticancer activity of SFN remain not fully understood. In the present study, we investigate the effects of SFN on cell proliferation, cell cycle, cell apoptosis, and also the expression of several cell cycle and apoptosis-related genes by MTT assay, flow cytometry and western blot analysis in gastric cancer (GC) cells. The results showed that SFN could impair the colony-forming ability in BGC-823 and MGC-803 cell lines compared with the control. In addition, SFN significantly suppressed cell proliferation by arresting the cell cycle at the S phase and enhancing cell apoptosis in GC cells in a dose-dependent manner. Western blot results showed that SFN treatment significantly increased the expression levels of p53, p21 and decreased CDK2 expression, which directly regulated the S phase transition. The Bax and cleaved-caspase-3 genes involved in apoptosis executive functions were significantly increased in a dose-dependent manner in BGC-823 and MGC-803 cells. These results suggested that SFN-induced S phase cell cycle arrest and apoptosis through p53-dependent manner in GC cells, which suggested that SFN has a potential therapeutic application in the treatment and prevention of GC.

As the global aging process continues to lengthen, aging-related diseases (e.g., chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart failure) continue to plague the elderly population. Aging is a complex biological process involving multiple tissues and organs and is involved in the development and progression of multiple aging-related diseases. At the same time, some of these aging-related diseases are often accompanied by hypoxia, chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, and the increased secretion of the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). Hypoxia seems to play an important role in the process of inflammation and aging, but is often neglected in advanced clinical research studies. Therefore, we have attempted to elucidate the role played by different degrees and types of hypoxia in aging and aging-related diseases and their possible pathways, and propose rational treatment options based on such mechanisms for reference.

The 2019 Coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) is a new infectious respiratory disease, which has caused a pandemic that has become the world's leading public health emergency, threatening people of all ages worldwide, especially the elderly. Complications of COVID-19 are closely related to an upregulation of the inflammatory response revealed by the pro-inflammatory profile of plasma cytokines (to the point of causing a cytokine storm), which is also a contributing cause of the associated coagulation disorders with venous and arterial thromboembolisms, causing multiple organ dysfunction and failure. In severe fulminant cases of COVID-19, there is an activation of coagulation and consumption of clotting factors leading to a deadly disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). It is well established that human immune response changes with age, and also that the pro-inflammatory profile of plasma cytokines is upregulated in both healthy and diseased elderly people. In fact, normal aging is known to be associated with a subclinical, sterile, low-grade, systemic pro-inflammatory state linked to the chronic activation of the innate immune system, a phenomenon known as “inflammaging”. Inflammaging may play a role as a condition contributing to the co-occurrence of the severe hyper-inflammatory state (cytokine storm) during COVID-19, and also in other severe infections (sepsis) in older people. Moreover, we must consider the impact of inflammation on coagulation due to the crosstalk between inflammation and coagulation. The systemic inflammatory state and coagulation disorders are closely related, a phenomenon that here we call “coagul-aging” (Giunta S.). In this review, we discuss the various degrees of inflammation in older adults after being infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and the adverse effects of aging on the inflammatory response and coagulation system. It is important to note that although there is no gender difference in susceptibility to COVID-19 infection, however, due to differences in angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) expression, innate immunity, and comorbidities, older men exhibit more severe disease and higher mortality than older women. There are currently no FDA-approved specific antiviral drugs that can be used against the virus. Therapies used in patients with COVID-19 consist of remdesivir, dexamethasone, low-molecular-weight heparin, in addition to monoclonal antibodies against the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 in the early phase of the disease. Future pharmacological research should also consider targeting the possible role of the underlying scenario of inflammaging in healthy older people to prevent or mitigate disease complications. It is worth mentioning that some specific cytokine antagonists and traditional Chinese medicine preparations can reduce the elderly's inflammatory state.