Natural Products and Their Derivatives Against Human Disease—2nd Edition

Dear Colleagues,

Natural products and their derivatives continue to play a central role in modern therapeutics and drug discovery. In the era of multi-omics, systems biology, and microbiome research, it has become increasingly clear that many bioactive compounds exert their effects through complex, multi-target mechanisms involving cellular signaling, immune modulation, metabolic regulation, and host–microbiome interactions. At the same time, global health challenges, including cancer, metabolic disorders, cardiovascular disease, neurodegeneration, and chronic inflammatory conditions, demand more precise, mechanism-based, and personalized therapeutic strategies.

Emerging evidence highlights the bidirectional relationship between natural products and the microbiota, including microbial biotransformation of compounds and microbiome-mediated modulation of efficacy and toxicity. These insights create significant opportunities to integrate mechanistic research with translational and precision medicine approaches.

Following the successful completion of our first Special Issue, https://www.mdpi.com/journal/cells/special_issues/10Q2XUG3EZ. This Special Issue aims to present and disseminate the most recent advances in natural product research with a focus on microbiome-mediated mechanisms and translational strategies. We welcome original research articles and comprehensive reviews addressing mechanistic, preclinical, and early clinical studies that bridge cellular pathways, host–microbiome–metabolite interactions, and precision therapeutic development.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to the following:

• Host microbiome and metabolite interactions;
• Gut–organ axes in health and disease;
• Immunometabolic regulation by natural compounds;
• Multi-omics-based mechanistic studies;
• Pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of natural products;
• Microbiome-mediated modulation of efficacy and toxicity;
• Novel drug delivery systems;
• Biomarker-guided and precision therapeutic strategies.

By integrating molecular mechanisms with translational perspectives, this Special Issue seeks to advance the rational and personalized development of natural product-based interventions in human disease.

Dr. Mamunur Rashid
Guest Editor

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