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Natural Compounds in Human Health and Disease
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Natural Compounds in Human Health and Disease

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Bioactives and Nutraceuticals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2025 | Viewed by 2248

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Kazuhiko Nakadate

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Functional Morphology, Meiji Pharmaceutical University, Tokyo 204-8588, Japan
Interests: drug discovery; natural products; medicinal chemistry; green tea; HPLC; CLEM
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are excited to announce a special issue titled "Natural Compounds in Human Health and Disease". This special issue aims to explore the latest insights into how natural compounds found in nutrients and foods contribute to health maintenance and their involvement in various human diseases. Recent research has highlighted the wide-ranging health benefits of natural compounds, including their ability to improve gut health, reduce inflammation, enhance immune function, and prevent cancer through antioxidant effects and apoptosis. Additionally, plant-derived compounds such as polyphenols, flavonoids, and carotenoids have been suggested to offer protective effects against metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular diseases, and neurodegenerative disorders. The antimicrobial and antiviral properties of these compounds, as well as their impact on mental health through the gut-brain axis, are also gaining attention. These findings are particularly significant in the context of post-COVID-19 health, where immune strengthening and mental health are of increasing importance. This special issue seeks to gather research reports on the role of these natural compounds in health and disease. We especially welcome new findings from animal studies and review articles reflecting the latest trends in this field.

Prof. Dr. Kazuhiko Nakadate
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. 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.

Keywords

  • nutrition
  • human health
  • obesity
  • polyphenol
  • tea
  • pathology
  • animal model

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

27 pages, 5960 KiB  
Article
Cornus mas L. Extracts Exhibit Neuroprotective Properties, Further Enhanced by Metal-Bound Energy-Linked Organic Substrates
by Georgios Lazopoulos, Sevasti Matsia, Marios Maroulis and Athanasios Salifoglou
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(3), 1159; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26031159 - 29 Jan 2025
Viewed by 541
Abstract
Neurodegenerative diseases have been increasingly plaguing the global population, with attempts to understand their etiopathogenesis and pursue therapeutics being at the forefront of multidisciplinary efforts. To that end, research was launched in our lab, based on natural products and bioessential metal ion complex [...] Read more.
Neurodegenerative diseases have been increasingly plaguing the global population, with attempts to understand their etiopathogenesis and pursue therapeutics being at the forefront of multidisciplinary efforts. To that end, research was launched in our lab, based on natural products and bioessential metal ion complex forms to peruse their antioxidant and neuroprotective potential at the cellular level. To that end, the bioactivity profile of optimized Cornus mas L. extracts and supplemented mixtures thereof with soluble-bioavailable well-characterized hybrid materials, Zn(II)-Cit and V(IV)-Cit, was investigated. In vitro experiments on sensitive brain tissue cell lines (N2a58, SH-SY5Y) showed that the extracts and the metal complexes were atoxic (morphology, proliferation, chemotacticity) in a concentration-dependent manner. Subsequently, the antioxidant potential of all materials was examined, with H2O2 as the oxidizing agent, thereby revealing through viability and reactive oxygen species (ROS) visualization significant antioxidant activity, while specific genes (NFE2L2, Hmox1, GCLM) were crucial in divulging mechanistic aspects of the antioxidation. Concurrently, the anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated through gene expression (TNF-a, IL-6), with Zn(II) bioavailability projecting intracellular levels linked to the observed sustainable activity. The collective bioactivity profile of the extracts and Zn(II)-Cit reveals significant neuroprotective properties, thereby meriting development of new naturally-based neutraceuticals that proactively avert neuropathological aberrations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Compounds in Human Health and Disease)
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16 pages, 2109 KiB  
Article
Investigating the Effects of Gossypetin on Cardiovascular Function in Diet-Induced Pre-Diabetic Male Sprague Dawley Rats
by Karishma Naidoo and Andile Khathi
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(22), 12105; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms252212105 - 11 Nov 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1238
Abstract
Gossypetin (GTIN) is a naturally occurring flavonoid recognised for its pharmacological properties. This study examined the effects of GTIN on cardiovascular function in a diet-induced pre-diabetic rat model, which has not been previously studied. Pre-diabetes was induced using a high-fat high-carbohydrate (HFHC) diet [...] Read more.
Gossypetin (GTIN) is a naturally occurring flavonoid recognised for its pharmacological properties. This study examined the effects of GTIN on cardiovascular function in a diet-induced pre-diabetic rat model, which has not been previously studied. Pre-diabetes was induced using a high-fat high-carbohydrate (HFHC) diet supplemented with 15% fructose water for 20 weeks. Thereafter, the pre-diabetic animals were sub-divided into five groups (n = 6), where they were either orally treated with GTIN (15 mg/kg) or metformin (MET) (500 mg/kg), both in the presence and absence of dietary intervention for 12 weeks. The results demonstrated that the pre-diabetic (PD) control group exhibited significantly higher plasma triglyceride, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein and very low-density lipoprotein levels, along with decreased high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels in comparison to the non-pre-diabetic (NPD) group. This was accompanied by significantly higher mean arterial pressure (MAP), body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and plasma endothelial nitric oxide (eNOS) levels in PD control. Additionally, there were increased heart malondialdehyde levels, reduced heart superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase activity as well as increased plasma interleukin-6, tumour necrosis factor alpha and c-reactive protein levels present in the PD control group. Notably, both GTIN-treated groups showed significantly reduced plasma lipid levels and increased HDL, as well as decreases in MAP, BMI, WC and eNOS levels in comparison to PD control. Additionally, GTIN significantly decreased heart lipid peroxidation, enhanced antioxidant activity and decreased plasma inflammation markers. These findings may suggest that GTIN administration in both the presence and absence of dietary intervention may offer therapeutic potential in ameliorating cardiovascular disturbances associated with the PD state. However, future studies are needed to determine the physiological mechanisms by which GTIN improves cardiovascular function in the PD state. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Compounds in Human Health and Disease)
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