Antioxidant Drug Candidates: Mechanistic and Computational Insights into Free Radical Scavenging and Redox Modulation

Dear Colleagues,

Oxidative stress is a well-established contributor to the onset and progression of numerous diseases, including neurodegenerative, oncological, cardiovascular, and inflammatory disorders. Therefore, the discovery and development of novel antioxidant compounds with drug-like properties is a key priority in medicinal chemistry and pharmaceutical research.

We are pleased to invite you to submit your work to the Special Issue “Antioxidant Drug Candidates: Mechanistic and Computational Insights into Free Radical Scavenging and Redox Modulation” in the journal Drugs and Drug Candidates. This Special Issue focuses on chemically defined structures—either natural, semi-synthetic, or fully synthetic—with a demonstrated or predicted antioxidant activity, evaluated as potential therapeutic agents.

We especially welcome studies that relate to the following areas:

• Synthesis and structural characterization of new antioxidant compounds;
• Chemical modification of natural products to improve stability, bioavailability, and selectivity;
• Structure-based design and optimization of antioxidant drug candidates;
• In silico screening and quantum chemical prediction of antioxidant potential;
• Evaluation of free radical scavenging and metal-chelating properties;
• Dual-action compounds with antioxidant and therapeutic effects (e.g., anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, and anticancer).

Note: Submissions must focus on defined compounds with clear chemical profiles. Manuscripts that primarily discuss physiological effects without compound-level data or mechanistic rationale will not be considered.

We welcome original research articles, reviews.

We look forward to receiving your high-quality contributions.

Dr. Žiko B. Milanović
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Drugs and Drug Candidates is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.