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Natural Medicines: Chemical Constituents and Pharmacological Activities: 2nd Edition

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Products Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2025) | Viewed by 3292

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
Interests: natural products analysis; pharmacological research; nuclear receptor function; metabolic diseases
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The use of natural medicines and their active ingredients has been a cornerstone of healthcare across the globe, offering a wealth of potential therapeutic benefits. As such, we invite you to contribute your latest findings and insights to this interdisciplinary field. In recent years, phytochemists and pharmacologists around the world have performed a great deal of work in the fields of active ingredient identification, drug metabolism, and pharmacological research, and have made outstanding contributions to the development of natural medicines. In order to provide a timely report of the latest progress in these fields, this Special Issue is designed to gather scientific papers on the research of natural constituents and their pharmacological activities. This Special Issue aims to encompass a broad range of topics related to the pharmacological properties of natural constituents. We welcome submissions that address, but are not limited to, the following areas: the identification and characterization of bioactive compounds from terrestrial, marine, and endophytic plant sources; the elucidation of the biosynthetic pathways and microbiological transformations involved in the production of these active constituents; and the metabolic and pharmacokinetic studies of natural compounds, including their absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion. Pharmacological studies on the efficacy, mechanism of action, and safety of natural medicines and their active components. The structural modifications of natural products are made to enhance their pharmacological activity and reduce toxicity, with the goal of developing more effective and safer therapeutic agents. We encourage submissions that employ innovative methodologies, provide novel insights into the mechanisms of action, or demonstrate the potential for the clinical translation of natural compounds. Manuscripts should be original, unpublished works that contribute to the understanding of the pharmacological activities of natural constituents. They should be well structured, clearly written, and supported by rigorous experimental data. All submissions will undergo a peer-review process to ensure the highest standards of scientific quality.

Dr. Youbo Zhang
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

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

  • plant extract
  • natural products
  • pharmacology
  • analysis

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (2 papers)

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17 pages, 9593 KiB  
Article
HS-GC-IMS Analysis of Volatile Organic Compounds in Six Spicy Spices and Their Effects on Ulcerative Colitis
by Qi Gao, Qiang Zhang, Chunliang Wang, Xue Geng, Min Hua, Nianhong Li, Yanpeng Dai, Yan Zhang and Qian Zhou
Molecules 2024, 29(16), 3764; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29163764 - 8 Aug 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1629
Abstract
The volatile organic compounds of six spices, including black pepper, dried ginger, cinnamon, fennel, clove, and zanthoxylum, were analyzed by gas chromatography–ion mobility spectrometry (HS-GC-IMS) combined with principal component analysis (PCA) and Euclidean distance. In further analyses, the effects of volatile oils in [...] Read more.
The volatile organic compounds of six spices, including black pepper, dried ginger, cinnamon, fennel, clove, and zanthoxylum, were analyzed by gas chromatography–ion mobility spectrometry (HS-GC-IMS) combined with principal component analysis (PCA) and Euclidean distance. In further analyses, the effects of volatile oils in six spices on ulcerative colitis were assayed in a zebrafish model induced by 3-nitrobenzenesulfonic acid. A total of 120 kinds of volatile organic compounds were detected and 80 among them were identified, which included 10 common components and 3 to 24 characteristic components belonging to different spices. The major VOCs in six spices were estimated to be terpenes with the contents of 45.02%, 56.87%, 36.68%, 58.19%, 68.68%, and 30.62%, respectively. Meanwhile, the volatile components of fennel, dried ginger, black pepper, and cinnamon are quite similar, but differ from clove and zanthoxylum. The volatile oils in six spices presented efficient activity to improve ulcerative colitis which can decrease the number of neutrophils, restore the structure of intestinal epithelial and the morphology of the epithelial cells. Our study achieved rapid analysis of the volatile organic compounds and flavors in six spices and further revealed the potential health benefits of their volatile oils on ulcerative colitis, especially for clove and zanthoxylum. This study is expected to provide certain data support for the quality evaluation and the potential use in functional foods of six spices. Full article
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Review

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24 pages, 1587 KiB  
Review
Current Advances in the Use of Mushrooms as Therapeutics for Lung Cancer: A Review
by Edward Thato Khunoana and Sanah Malomile Nkadimeng
Molecules 2025, 30(6), 1322; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules30061322 - 14 Mar 2025
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Abstract
Medicinal mushrooms have become increasingly important in the pharmaceutical industry because they contain a wealth of bioactive compounds and offer various nutritional benefits. These qualities also contribute to their widespread use in cooking. Global mycologists have suggested that a deeper understanding of mushrooms [...] Read more.
Medicinal mushrooms have become increasingly important in the pharmaceutical industry because they contain a wealth of bioactive compounds and offer various nutritional benefits. These qualities also contribute to their widespread use in cooking. Global mycologists have suggested that a deeper understanding of mushrooms can aid in treating a variety of cancers at different stages. The excellent anticancer potential of fungi has inevitably attracted the attention of researchers, given the ever-increasing number of cases of lung cancer. Thus, the purpose of this review was to compile and synthesize the existing scientific literature about the potential of mushroom extracts particularly towards lung cancer prevention. A comprehensive literature search was conducted in electronic databases to identify relevant studies for the review. We found that 26 distinct kinds of mushrooms, prepared in over 10 different solvents, were used to make extracts that decreased the viability of different types of lung cancer cells (A549, NCI-H460, 3LL, H1264 cells etc.). We also examined a range of experimental models, including cell cultures (in vitro), mouse models (in vivo), as well as case studies and randomized controlled trials. The investigated mushrooms’ effective mechanisms included: a reduction in the growth of cancer cells; an imbalanced percentage of cells in different phases of the cell cycle; an increase in autophagy and phagocytosis; an enhanced immune response; and the induction of cell apoptosis through the upregulation of pro-apoptotic factors and the downregulation of anti-apoptotic genes. Considering that mushrooms are consumed as a daily supplement, their potent pro-apoptotic properties and high antiproliferative efficacy are advantageous and could provide a model for further studies in this field as well as novel drug therapies and cancer treatments. Full article
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