Current Research on Polyphenol and Neurodegenerative Diseases
A Special Issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067) belonging to the section "Bioactives and Nutraceuticals".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2027
Editor
Interests: neurodegenerative diseases; neurotherapeutics; neuro-proteinopathies; Alzheimer’s disease; therapeutic molecules; neurotrophin signaling; neurotrophic factor; neurodevelopmental disorder
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other age-associated neurological conditions, continue to represent one of the greatest challenges in modern medicine. These diseases are characterized by progressive neuronal loss, oxidative stress, chronic neuroinflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, abnormal protein aggregation and impaired cellular signaling, ultimately leading to cognitive and motor impairment.
In recent years, naturally occurring polyphenols have attracted considerable attention due to their remarkable antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic and neuroprotective properties. Extensive experimental and clinical research suggests that dietary polyphenols—including flavonoids, phenolic acids, stilbenes, lignans and tannins—can modulate multiple molecular pathways involved in neurodegeneration. Emerging evidence also highlights their ability to regulate gut microbiota, improve mitochondrial function, reduce oxidative damage, inhibit protein aggregation and enhance neuronal survival.
Despite significant advances, numerous questions remain regarding the molecular mechanisms, pharmacokinetics, bioavailability, formulation strategies, clinical translation and therapeutic efficacy of polyphenols in preventing or slowing neurodegenerative diseases.
This Special Issue aims to provide a comprehensive platform for presenting latest advances in the discovery, mechanistic understanding and therapeutic applications of polyphenols against neurodegenerative disorders. We welcome original research articles, comprehensive reviews, systematic reviews, short communications and perspectives that explore innovative strategies, experimental findings and clinical developments in this rapidly evolving field.
By bringing together interdisciplinary research from neuroscience, pharmacology, nutrition, molecular biology, medicinal chemistry and clinical medicine, this Special Issue seeks to advance our understanding of natural polyphenols as promising therapeutic agents for neurodegenerative diseases.
This Special Issue aims to highlight cutting-edge research investigating the therapeutic potential of polyphenols in the prevention and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. The issue will focus on molecular mechanisms, preclinical and clinical studies, bioavailability enhancement, formulation strategies, biomarker discovery and translational research that bridge laboratory findings with clinical applications.
The Special Issue aligns with the journal's scope by integrating neuroscience, molecular biology, pharmacology, nutrition, natural products research and biomedical sciences to provide comprehensive insights into neuroprotective strategies based on polyphenolic compounds.
In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Polyphenols and neuroprotection
- Alzheimer's disease
- Parkinson's disease
- Huntington's disease
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- Multiple sclerosis
- Neuroinflammation
- Oxidative stress
- Mitochondrial dysfunction
- Protein aggregation
- Tau pathology
- Amyloid-β toxicity
- α-Synuclein aggregation
- Cellular signaling pathways
- Nrf2 signaling
- NF-κB signaling
- MAPK signaling
- PI3K/Akt pathway
- Autophagy and mitophagy
- Gut–brain axis
- Microbiome and polyphenols
- Functional foods
- Nutraceuticals
- Drug delivery systems
- Nanotechnology-based formulations
- Bioavailability enhancement
- Clinical trials
- Biomarker discovery
- Multi-omics approaches
- Precision nutrition
- Artificial intelligence in natural product discovery
- Translational neuroscience
I look forward to receiving your valuable contributions.
Dr. Nidhi Puranik
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. 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
- polyphenols
- neurodegenerative disorders
- Alzheimer's disease
- Parkinson's disease
- neuroprotection
- oxidative stress
- neuroinflammation
- natural products
- mitochondrial dysfunction
- functional foods
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