Health systems and reformPub Date : 2025-12-31Epub Date: 2025-01-23DOI: 10.1080/23288604.2024.2437898
Abdo S Yazbeck, Son Nam Nguyen, Maria-Luisa Escobar
{"title":"How Health Systems World-wide Fail Type 2 Diabetics.","authors":"Abdo S Yazbeck, Son Nam Nguyen, Maria-Luisa Escobar","doi":"10.1080/23288604.2024.2437898","DOIUrl":"10.1080/23288604.2024.2437898","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>For over 50 years, health systems the world over have failed people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The WHO documents a quadrupling of people with diabetes in a 34-year period to 422 million in 2014, the overwhelming majority of whom were T2DM. This happened despite extensive scientific literature on the causes of, as well as proven treatments for, this disease. Using a health systems prism to review the extensive medical and nutritional T2DM published research, we identified three main shortcomings of health systems in T2DM: (i) failure in early detection; (ii) failure in understanding the actionable lifestyle drivers; and (iii) subsidizing the causes of the disease. Although small-scale success stories in T2DM control exist, the lack of documented evidence of any country-wide health system's successful attempt to address this epidemic is alarming. The immense and ever-growing health and economic burdens of T2DM should provide all the motivation needed for national and global efforts to counteract the political-economy constraints standing in the way of successful whole-of-system approaches to T2DM.</p>","PeriodicalId":73218,"journal":{"name":"Health systems and reform","volume":"11 1","pages":"2437898"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143029998","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Health systems and reformPub Date : 2025-12-31Epub Date: 2025-06-23DOI: 10.1080/23288604.2025.2516904
Ravindra P Rannan-Eliya, Nilmini Wijemunige, H M M Herath, Prasadini Perera, Vajira H W Dissanayake, Bilesha Perera, Shanti Dalpatadu, Sarath Samarage, Anuji Gamage
{"title":"The Diabetes Care Cascade in Sri Lanka: An Analysis of Losses, Disparities, and Opportunities for Improved Health System Outcomes.","authors":"Ravindra P Rannan-Eliya, Nilmini Wijemunige, H M M Herath, Prasadini Perera, Vajira H W Dissanayake, Bilesha Perera, Shanti Dalpatadu, Sarath Samarage, Anuji Gamage","doi":"10.1080/23288604.2025.2516904","DOIUrl":"10.1080/23288604.2025.2516904","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Sri Lanka has one of the highest prevalence rates of diabetes, and improving diabetes control is a national priority. The care cascade framework, a tool for evaluating diabetes control and identifying system gaps, has not been assessed nationally in Sri Lanka. This study addresses this gap using data from a nationally representative longitudinal cohort. Using 2018-2019 data from the Sri Lanka Health and Ageing Study (SLHAS), we evaluated the diabetes care cascade, estimating levels of (i) prevalence, (ii) testing, (iii) diagnosis, (iv) awareness, (v) treatment, (vi) medication adherence, and (vii) control. Logistic regression assessed factors associated with step performance, and concentration indices quantified socioeconomic inequalities. Performance was benchmarked against other countries. In 4,827 participants the weighted diabetes prevalence was 23.2%. Of those with diabetes, 86.0% had been tested, 62.3% diagnosed, 58.6% aware, 44.7% treated, and 20.6% (hemoglobin A1c, HbA1c < 8.0%) and 12.4% (HbA1c < 7.0%) controlled. Older adults and those with hypertension achieved higher rates at all steps, while disparities by gender, education, location, and body mass index were minimal. Concentration indices confirmed pro-rich inequity from testing to treatment but revealed no significant inequity in control. Sri Lanka outperforms most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in testing, diagnosis, treatment, and disparities in coverage, reflecting underlying system strengths. But only one in five Sri Lankans with diabetes achieve control, with significant losses post-treatment. High diagnosis and treatment rates alone are insufficient; strategy must shift toward understanding the reasons for poor control. and improving treatment outcomes, a lesson with wider relevance.</p>","PeriodicalId":73218,"journal":{"name":"Health systems and reform","volume":"11 1","pages":"2516904"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144478132","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Health systems and reformPub Date : 2025-12-31Epub Date: 2025-06-23DOI: 10.1080/23288604.2025.2516897
Mohamed Hamad J T Al-Thani, Sameh El-Saharty, Zeina Jamal, Amit Mishra, Suresh Babu Kokku, Rehana Nasir Nawaz, Ioanna Skaroni, Abdul Badi Abou-Samra
{"title":"Qatar's Progress in Curbing Diabetes: A Comprehensive and Proactive Approach.","authors":"Mohamed Hamad J T Al-Thani, Sameh El-Saharty, Zeina Jamal, Amit Mishra, Suresh Babu Kokku, Rehana Nasir Nawaz, Ioanna Skaroni, Abdul Badi Abou-Samra","doi":"10.1080/23288604.2025.2516897","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23288604.2025.2516897","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This commentary examines Qatar's proactive approach to addressing the rising prevalence of Type 2 diabetes mellitus and associated non-communicable diseases within the Gulf Cooperation Council region. Following the 2012 STEPwise survey, which revealed a T2DM prevalence of 16.7%, Qatar launched the National Diabetes Strategy (2016-2022), focusing on six strategic pillars. Recent data from the 2023 STEPwise survey indicates a stabilization in diabetes (18.1%) and obesity (33.4%) rates, alongside other lifestyle factors, necessitating ongoing public health interventions. Qatar leverages innovative technologies and digital health initiatives to enhance diabetes care and disease surveillance. The establishment of national taskforces for obesity and childhood diabetes further exemplifies Qatar's commitment to a coordinated response. Future directions include the National Health Strategy (NHS-3): Action Plan 2024-2030, on Obesity, Diabetes, and Modifiable Risk Factors for Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Diseases, which aims to strengthen screening and management activities. By fostering partnerships and prioritizing research, Qatar aspires to improve health outcomes and serve as a model for other nations facing similar health challenges.</p>","PeriodicalId":73218,"journal":{"name":"Health systems and reform","volume":"11 1","pages":"2516897"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144478131","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Study on the bioremediation of methylene blue by Haematococcus pluvialis through synchrotron-FTIR imaging and spectroscopy.","authors":"Jinghua Liu, Wenzhe Li, Xuanyi Ren, Zeming Qi, Jingwen Ma, Shan Huang, Lishuan Chai, Yue Jiao, Jiawei Xu, Xueqin Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.saa.2025.126613","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.saa.2025.126613","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Methylene blue (MB), as a phenothiazine dye, causes a harmful damage to health and receives increasingly more environmental concern. Herein, the batch experiments for MB biosorption and biotransformation by Haematococcus pluvialis were carried out to evaluate the optimal parameters of MB removal. In this work, we found that the maximum removal efficiency was attained when MB was at the initial concentration of 5 mg/L. Meanwhile, the cellular numbers and pigments decreased dramatically with the rising content of MB. Furthermore, synchrotron-FTIR microscopic imaging is employed here to investigate the interaction between MB dye and algal cells by the measurement of the various vital changes of cellular components involving in the bioremediation of the hazardous dye, which indicated that MB dye as a photosensitizer can trigger the algal transformation from vegetative cells into red cysts by introducing oxidative stress. Accordingly, the dye removal efficiency can be sharply enhanced by the transformed algal cells for the accumulation of astaxanthin or carotenoids. In addition, the FTIR spectroscopy combined with PCA algorithm was further utilized to discriminate various algal status based on their spectral features. As a result, it demonstrates that microscopic imaging and FTIR spectroscopy is a powerful and useful tool to elucidate underlying mechanisms of dye removal by algal cells at high spatial resolution and to evaluate cellular physiological characteristics through multivariate statistical analysis, and it even provides a novel and effective strategy to rapidly screen the potential microalgae for the removal of recalcitrant dyes from wastewater.</p>","PeriodicalId":94213,"journal":{"name":"Spectrochimica acta. Part A, Molecular and biomolecular spectroscopy","volume":"343 ","pages":"126613"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144532180","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Future Science OAPub Date : 2025-12-01Epub Date: 2025-04-09DOI: 10.1080/20565623.2025.2489328
Yan Zheng, Baichen Sun, Zhiling Qu
{"title":"Adverse predictive value of ASPM on lung adenocarcinoma overall survival depended on chemotherapy status.","authors":"Yan Zheng, Baichen Sun, Zhiling Qu","doi":"10.1080/20565623.2025.2489328","DOIUrl":"10.1080/20565623.2025.2489328","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Transcriptome and proteome analyses may yield inconsistent predictions regarding tumor prognosis. The clinical and pathological significance of ASPM expression in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) remains unclear. This study investigates the expression and prognostic value of ASPM, focusing on its role in chemotherapy outcomes.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We analyzed the prognostic relevance of ASPM using bioinformatics, immunohistochemical staining of LUAD tissue microarrays, and proteomics data. Further, in vitro experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of ASPM overexpression on cell proliferation and sensitivity to cisplatin.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Bioinformatics analysis revealed that ASPM's prognostic significance differed between transcriptomic and proteomic datasets. Immunohistochemistry showed that high ASPM expression predicted improved overall survival only in LUAD patients undergoing chemotherapy, not in those without. Proteomics analysis identified ASPM-related signatures enriched in cell cycle and mitosis pathways. In vitro, ASPM overexpression promoted tumor cell proliferation and enhanced cisplatin-induced cytotoxicity.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>ASPM exhibits a dual role in LUAD prognosis, acting as a marker for improved chemotherapy outcomes while promoting tumor proliferation. These findings underscore ASPM's potential as a therapeutic target and predictive marker for personalized treatment in LUAD.</p>","PeriodicalId":12568,"journal":{"name":"Future Science OA","volume":"11 1","pages":"2489328"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11988246/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143811072","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Future Science OAPub Date : 2025-12-01Epub Date: 2025-04-04DOI: 10.1080/20565623.2025.2483631
Rand Shahin, Sawsan Jaafreh, Yusra Azzam
{"title":"Tracking protein kinase targeting advances: integrating QSAR into machine learning for kinase-targeted drug discovery.","authors":"Rand Shahin, Sawsan Jaafreh, Yusra Azzam","doi":"10.1080/20565623.2025.2483631","DOIUrl":"10.1080/20565623.2025.2483631","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Protein kinases are vital drug targets, yet designing selective inhibitors is challenging, compounded by resistance and kinome complexity. This review explores Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR) modeling for kinase drug discovery, focusing on integrating traditional QSAR with machine learning (ML)-CNNs, RNNs-and structural data. Methods include structural databases, docking, and deep learning QSAR. Key findings show ML-integrated QSAR significantly improves selective inhibitor design for CDKs, JAKs, PIM kinases. The IDG-DREAM challenge exemplifies ML's potential for accurate kinase-inhibitor interaction prediction, outperforming traditional methods and enabling inhibitors with enhanced selectivity, efficacy, and resistance mitigation. QSAR combined with advanced computation and experimental data accelerates kinase drug discovery, offering transformative precision medicine potential. This review highlights deep learning-enhanced QSAR's novelty in automating feature extraction and capturing complex relationships, surpassing traditional QSAR, while emphasizing interpretability and experimental validation for clinical translation.</p>","PeriodicalId":12568,"journal":{"name":"Future Science OA","volume":"11 1","pages":"2483631"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11980485/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143779417","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Protein targeting to Starch 2 and the plastidial phosphorylase 1 revealed protein-protein interactions with photosynthesis proteins in yeast two-hybrid screenings.","authors":"Sidratul Nur Muntaha, Joerg Fettke","doi":"10.1080/15592324.2025.2470775","DOIUrl":"10.1080/15592324.2025.2470775","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Starch metabolism in plants involves a complex network of interacting proteins that work together to ensure the efficient synthesis and degradation of starch. These interactions are crucial for regulating the balance between energy storage and release, adapting to the plant's developmental stage and environmental conditions. Several studies have been performed to investigate protein-protein interactions (PPIs) in starch metabolism complexes, yet it remains impossible to unveil all of the PPIs in this highly regulated process. This study uses yeast-two-hybrid (Y2H) screening against the Arabidopsis leaf cDNA library to explore PPIs, focusing on the starch-granule-initiating protein named Protein Targeting to Starch 2 (PTST2, At1g27070) and the protein involved in starch and maltodextrin metabolism, namely, plastidial phosphorylase 1 (PHS1, EC 2.4.1.1). More than 100 positive interactions were sequenced, and we found chloroplastidial proteins to be putative interacting partners of PTST2 and PHS1. Among them, photosynthetic proteins were discovered. These novel interactions could reveal new roles of PTST2 and PHS1 in the connection between starch metabolism and photosynthesis. This dynamic interplay between starch metabolism and other chloroplast functions highlights the importance of starch as both an energy reservoir and a regulatory component in the broader context of plant physiology and adaptation.</p>","PeriodicalId":94172,"journal":{"name":"Plant signaling & behavior","volume":"20 1","pages":"2470775"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11866963/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143506718","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Immune infiltration landscape and potential drug-targeted implications for hepatocellular carcinoma with 'progression/hyper-progression' recurrence.","authors":"Jing-Xuan Xu, Yue-Xiang Su, Yuan-Yuan Chen, Yi-Yue Huang, Zu-Shun Chen, Yu-Chong Peng, Lu-Nan Qi","doi":"10.1080/07853890.2025.2456113","DOIUrl":"10.1080/07853890.2025.2456113","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and aims: </strong>Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) recurrence was previously characterized into four types, and patients with progression/hyper-progression recurrence (type III-IV) have an extremely poor prognosis. However, the immune background of resectable HCC, particularly in patients who experience recurrence, remains underexplored. Therefore, this study aimed to describe the immune landscape of resectable HCC, especially postoperative type III-IV recurrent HCC, and explore potential immune-targeted anti-relapse strategies for treated populations.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The differences in gene expression in patients with recurrent HCC (type I-II (solitary or multi-intrahepatic oligo recurrence) vs. type III-IV) were investigated using bulk sequencing. Multiple immune infiltration methods (single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), Microenvironment Cell Populations-counter and ESTIMATE) were used, and patients were divided into four groups to identify four distinct immune subtypes: immune-enrichment/matrix-poor (IE1), immune-enrichment/matrix-rich (IE2), immune intermediate/matrix-rich (ITM) and immune desert/matrix-poor (ID). Co-expression and protein interaction analyses were used to identify characteristic genes in ITM closely associated with type III-IV recurrence, which was matched with drug targets for Huaier granules (HG) and lenvatinib. Virtual docking was used to identify potential therapeutic targets, and the results were verified using single-nuclei RNA sequencing and histological analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>ITM was closely related to type III-IV recurrence and exhibited immunotherapy potential. The potential efficacy of inhibiting CCNA2, VEGFA, CXCL8, PLK2, TIMP1, ITGB2, ALDOA, ANXA5 and CSK in ITM reversal was determined. Molecular docking demonstrated that the proteins of these genes could bind to HG or lenvatinib. The immunohistochemical findings demonstrated differential VEGFA (<i>p</i> < .01) and PLK2 (<i>p</i> < .001) expression in ITM type and ID in type III-IV recurrent HCC.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Three primary immunotypes of resectable HCC (IE2, ITM and ID) were identified, and HG and lenvatinib could potentially overcome immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) resistance in ITM patients with HCC, particularly those classified as type III-IV.</p>","PeriodicalId":93874,"journal":{"name":"Annals of medicine","volume":"57 1","pages":"2456113"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11774162/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143061746","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hanlin Zhang, Jia Zhou, Keyun Tang, Xinyi Zhang, Hongzhong Jin
{"title":"Expanding the therapeutic horizons of spesolimab: a review of off-label applications for inflammatory skin diseases.","authors":"Hanlin Zhang, Jia Zhou, Keyun Tang, Xinyi Zhang, Hongzhong Jin","doi":"10.1080/09546634.2025.2460582","DOIUrl":"10.1080/09546634.2025.2460582","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>This review aims to outline the crucial role of IL-36 signaling in inflammatory skin diseases and summarize the therapeutic potential of spesolimab. Our goal is to provide insights into the off-label applications of spesolimab and future directions for its use in treating other challenging skin diseases.</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>We conducted a comprehensive literature search across PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, MEDLINE, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library to identify relevant studies. For RCTs, we additionally searched the ClinicalTrials.gov database.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In this review, we examine its off-label applications for conditions such as palmoplantar pustulosis, acrodermatitis continua of Hallopeau, hidradenitis suppurativa, pyoderma gangrenosum, and acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis. This review also explores the role of IL-36 in the pathophysiology of these disorders and discusses how spesolimab may address the limitations of current therapies for refractory cases. Randomized controlled trials and case reports are summarized to highlight the efficacy and tolerability of spesolimab across various inflammatory skin conditions. We highlight the challenges presented by the absence of standardized treatment guidelines and the need for larger clinical trials.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This review underscores the potential of spesolimab to enhance treatment strategies for inflammatory skin diseases.</p>","PeriodicalId":94235,"journal":{"name":"The Journal of dermatological treatment","volume":"36 1","pages":"2460582"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143434849","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Malik Muhammad Abdullah, Ejaz Ahmad Waraich, Muhammad Ahmad, Saddam Hussain, Hafiz Naeem Asghar, Arslan Haider, Usman Zulfiqar, Zahoor Ahmad, Walid Soufan, Pv Vara Prasad, Ivica Djalovic
{"title":"Improving soybean drought tolerance via silicon-induced changes in growth, physiological, biochemical, and root characteristics.","authors":"Malik Muhammad Abdullah, Ejaz Ahmad Waraich, Muhammad Ahmad, Saddam Hussain, Hafiz Naeem Asghar, Arslan Haider, Usman Zulfiqar, Zahoor Ahmad, Walid Soufan, Pv Vara Prasad, Ivica Djalovic","doi":"10.1080/15592324.2025.2465232","DOIUrl":"10.1080/15592324.2025.2465232","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Drought-induced osmotic stress is a significant constraint to soybean growth and yield, necessitating the development of effective mitigation strategies. Silicon acts as an important strategy to mitigate the negative stress effects of drought stress. The study was aimed to evaluate the potential of soil-applied silicon in alleviating drought stress in soybean. Two field capacities were tested: control (85% FC) and drought (50% FC), with four silicon application rates (0, 100, 200, and 300 kg ha<sup>-1</sup>) applied at sowing. Drought stress significantly affected the morphological parameters in soybean as plant height, leaf area, and water potential were reduced by 25%, 20%, and 36%, respectively, while root length increased as compared to control-85% FC. However, drought stress reduced root density, surface area, and biomass as compared to control-85% FC. Additionally, drought reduced photosynthetic rates, chlorophyll a and b levels, and stomatal conductance, while increasing malondialdehyde and hydrogen peroxide. The natural plant defense system was upregulated, with increased activity of phenolics, soluble proteins, and antioxidant enzymes like catalase, superoxide dismutase, and peroxidase. However, silicon applications, especially at 200 kg ha<sup>-1</sup>, significantly alleviated the negative effects of drought stress by improving morphophysiological and biochemical traits in soybeans. Compared to the control, Si<sub>200</sub> increased plant height, root length, photosynthetic rate, and water potential by 22%, 39%, 23%, and 17%, respectively, as compared to control. Furthermore, silicon reduced malondialdehyde and hydrogen peroxide levels by 21% and 10%, enhancing plant resilience. Silicon supplementation also boosted biochemical attributes, with total soluble proteins, phenolics, and antioxidant enzyme activities increasing by 30%, 55%, 19%, 24%, and 31%, respectively, under drought conditions. In crux, silicon at 200 kg ha<sup>-1</sup> effectively mitigated the effects of drought stress in soybean, becoming a more sustainable approach to sustain crop yield and food security.</p>","PeriodicalId":94172,"journal":{"name":"Plant signaling & behavior","volume":"20 1","pages":"2465232"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11853616/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143485094","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}