Advances in Natural Products for the Prevention and Treatment of Diabetes and Obesity
A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Products Chemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2026 | Viewed by 233
Special Issue Editor
Interests: obesity; diabetes; metabolic syndrome; natural product; zebrafish; molecular biology; pharmacology; drug screening
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Diabetes and obesity are escalating global health issues that contribute significantly to medical and socioeconomic challenges. These complex metabolic conditions are strongly linked to insulin resistance, persistent low-grade inflammation, dyslipidemia, and organ-specific complications, including the heart and kidneys. Despite the availability of numerous pharmacological treatments, their long-term effectiveness is often hindered by side effects, high costs, and limited success in halting disease progression. As a result, there is an increasing interest in exploring natural products as complementary or alternative approaches for managing diabetes and obesity.
Natural substances derived from plants, marine organisms, microorganisms, and traditional medicinal practices exhibit a wide range of biological activities, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, lipid-modulating, and glucose-regulating effects. Progress in analytical chemistry, molecular biology, and systems-level methodologies has significantly accelerated the discovery of bioactive compounds and the elucidation of their mechanisms of action. Simultaneously, new and alternative animal models, including zebrafish, have become increasingly popular as effective tools for in vivo functional analysis, drug testing, and toxicity evaluation due to their genetic accessibility and physiological relevance.
This Special Issue seeks to showcase the latest advances in the use of natural products to prevent and treat diabetes and obesity, with a focus on mechanistic insights, innovative disease models, and translational potential. We invite original research articles and comprehensive reviews that explore bioactive compounds, molecular targets, and experimental approaches.
Dr. Liqing Zang
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.
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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 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.
Keywords
- natural products
- diabetes
- obesity
- metabolic syndrome
- bioactive compounds
- zebrafish
- molecular mechanisms
- drug screening
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