Natural Bioactives: Exploring Their Therapeutic Potential—2nd Edition
A special issue of Life (ISSN 2075-1729). This special issue belongs to the section "Pharmaceutical Science".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 August 2025 | Viewed by 154
Special Issue Editor
Interests: rapanone; embelin; polyphenols; phytochemical analysis; CNS biological activity in vivo; anti-tyrosinase activity; Ardisia crenata; quantification of plant metabolites
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Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The exploration of therapeutic agents represents an ongoing process. Nature, a trove of biodiversity, continually offers us biologically active compounds. Time-tested natural bioactives, such as artemisinin, which is isolated from the plant Artemisia annua and has been used for decades as a key treatment for malaria, or the Madagascar-periwinkle-derived anticancer agents vincristine and vinblastine, demonstrate nature’s therapeutic potential. Today, at least 70,000 medicinal plants are known to be used worldwide, highlighting vast potential that is still to be fully explored.
Over recent decades, research has focused on exploring therapeutics for non-communicable diseases, which represent a growing and overwhelming medical problem. It has been shown in many studies that agents with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and cytotoxic properties (as well as their more specific activities) can be useful in the prophylaxis and/or treatment of central nervous system disorders, cancer, and cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Many phytochemicals, such as phenolic compounds (flavonoids, tannins, quinones, or curcuminoids), terpenoids, steroids, or alkaloids, have been found to show complex and beneficial modes of biological action. Consequently, they have continuously represented an important subject of interest for researchers. Furthermore, the last several years have shown that infectious diseases can also be an unexpected global threat, and this time, nature-derived substances are being extensively explored, as herbs and microbes are known sources of antibiotic agents.
For this Special Issue, our aim is to bring together the latest discoveries and fresh insights, taking a closer look at diverse phytochemicals and compounds from plants, marine organisms, fungi, and microbes. Both original research articles and comprehensive reviews are welcome.
To read the publications in the previous edition, please visit the following webpage: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/life/special_issues/Natural_Bioactives
Dr. Dagmara Wróbel-Biedrawa
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- bioactive compounds
- medicinal plants
- bioactive metabolites with antioxidant properties
- anti-inflammatory properties
- antitumor properties
- cytotoxic properties
- antipsychotic properties
- anxiolytic properties
- neuroprotective properties
- hypotensive properties
- vasorelaxant properties
- antimicrobial properties (antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiparasitic properties)
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Related Special Issue
- Natural Bioactives: Exploring Their Therapeutic Potential in Life (12 articles)
