Natural Products and Microbiology in Human Health, 2nd Edition
A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Products Chemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 319
Special Issue Editor
Interests: biochemistry and cell biology; microbiology; cancer; inflammation; drug discovery; natural products; ethnobotany
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Human health is closely linked to microbial exposure, and to the maintenance of the microbiome. Pathogenic bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and viruses cause a myriad of diseases that may seriously impact human health. The use of chemotherapies to combat these diseases has long relied upon traditional medicines and natural products. Indeed, penicillin (and the majority of other first-generation antibiotics) were initially identified as bacterial and fungal natural products, used by microbes to provide a competitive advantage over other cells in their environment. A large portion of the antibiotics produced as second- and third-generation antibiotics were based on the chemical scaffolds of the first-generation natural product antibiotics. Notably, even before the development of current antibiotic therapies, natural medicines containing bioactive natural products were used to combat pathogenic diseases. Plant-based medicines were particularly important in this respect and continue to be important in many regions of the world. With the recent development of multiple antibiotic-resistant pathogens, the discovery of novel antibiotic therapies is a priority for medical science and natural products are promising as new drug leads.
Natural products and the microbiome may also impact human health in other fundamental ways. The human microbiome comprises a myriad of bacteria and archaea, protozoa, fungi, and viruses, both within and outside our bodies. Alterations in the natural microbial balance may affect human health via disease induction. Microbiome dysbiosis increases the host’s susceptibility to disease by allowing pathogenic microbes to flourish and out-compete the beneficial microflora. Natural products may also function as pre- or probiotics, allowing the natural microflora and beneficial microbes to dominate, thereby inhibiting the growth of pathogens. Therefore, natural products can also influence human health by modulating the human microbiome.
We invite the submission of original research and review articles focusing on natural products and microbiology and their effects on human health. Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
- The antimicrobial activity of natural products.
- Identification of natural products with antimicrobial activity.
- Plant-derived natural products and their effects on microbes important to human health.
- Microbial-derived natural products and their effects on microbes important to human health.
- Natural products derived from marine organisms and their effects on microbes important to human health.
- Antibacterial activity of natural products against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
- Potentiation of antibiotic (or probiotic) activity by natural products.
- Modulation of the human microbiome and disease induction by natural products and traditional medicines.
- Microbiome dysbiosis (or microbiome maintenance) induced by natural products, and its effects on human health.
- Natural products as nutritional factors and antioxidants in maintaining gastrointestinal microbial homeostasis and human health.
- Natural products such as probiotics (and/or prebiotics) and their affects on human health.
Dr. Ian Edwin Cock
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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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
- traditional medicine
- antibiotics
- antibiotic natural products
- probiotics
- novel antimicrobial therapies
- microbial toxins
- phytochemicals
- antibiotic-resistant bacteria
- drug potentiation
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Related Special Issue
- Natural Products and Microbiology in Human Health in Molecules (10 articles)
