Natural Bioactive Compounds: Molecular Mechanisms and Toxicological Evaluation
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Toxicology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 143
Special Issue Editors
Interests: neurotoxicity; toxicokinetics and metabolism; toxicity mechanisms; oxidant and antioxidant activities; toxicology and food safety; natural bioactive compounds; molecular toxicology
Interests: pharmacology; toxicology; neurotoxicity; toxicokinetics and metabolism; safety of chemical and biological agents; toxicity mechanisms; natural bioactive compounds; molecular toxicology
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Natural bioactive compounds derived from plants, microorganisms and marine organisms constitute a valuable source of chemically diverse molecules with significant biological activities. Many of these compounds have demonstrated promising anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytoprotective properties through the modulation of key molecular pathways involved in metabolism, redox balance and cell survival. As a result, they have attracted increasing attention in drug discovery, nutraceutical development and food science. However, their beneficial effects must be carefully balanced with rigorous safety evaluations as toxicity, bioavailability and pharmacokinetics can vary depending on dose, formulation and route of administration.
We are pleased to invite you to contribute to the Special Issue “Natural Bioactive Compounds: Molecular Mechanisms and Toxicological Evaluation”. This Special Issue aims to highlight recent advances in the identification, characterization and mechanistic understanding of natural bioactive compounds, with particular interest on their molecular mechanisms of action and toxicological profiles. By integrating molecular biology, toxicology, pharmacology and biotechnology approaches, this collection seeks to provide new insights into the safe and effective application of natural compounds in health, nutrition and disease prevention.
In this Special Issue, original research articles, systematic review and meta-analysis and review papers are welcome. Please note that this Special Issue focuses on molecular and mechanistic studies; purely clinical, epidemiological or survey-based studies fall outside the scope of the journal and will not be considered.
Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following topics explored through in vitro, in vivo and in silico approaches:
- Toxicological evaluation of natural bioactive compounds, including systematic ADME/Tox studies and safety assessments.
- Regulation of redox balance, inflammation, metabolic pathways, and cancer-related signaling by natural compounds.
- Bioactivity and health-promoting properties of natural compounds demonstrated through mechanistic in vitro and in vivo studies.
- Applications of natural bioactive compounds in food safety, functional foods and nutraceuticals.
- Integration of omics technologies and systems biology to understand mechanisms of action and toxicity.
- Identification and characterization of novel natural compounds with therapeutic potentials and low toxicity profiles.
Dr. Bernardo Lopez-Torres
Dr. Irma Ares
Guest Editors
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-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
- natural bioactive compounds
- toxicology and safety assessment
- molecular mechanisms of action
- redox and inflammatory signaling pathways
- chemical diversity
- nutraceuticals and functional foods
- health benefits and bioactivity
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