Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
7.7
4.8
Journals
Pharmaceuticals
Special Issues
Natural Product-Derived Treatments of Neurological and Neuropsychiatric Disorders
share announcement

Natural Product-Derived Treatments of Neurological and Neuropsychiatric Disorders

A special issue of Pharmaceuticals (ISSN 1424-8247).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2026 | Viewed by 1777

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Cristiane S. F. Maia

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratory Pharmacology of Inflammation and Behavior, Institute of Health Sciences, Federal University of Pará, Belém 66075-110, Brazil
Interests: addiction; drug abuse; toxicology; bioactive compound; neurobehavioral
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Enéas A. Fontes-Júnior

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of Pará, Belém 66075-110, Brazil
Interests: neuroinflammation; neuropharmacology; pain; bioactive compounds
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Mozaniel Santana de Oliveira

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratory of Pharmacology of Inflammation and Behavior, Postgraduate Program in Pharmaceutical Sciences (PPGCF), Institute of Health Sciences, Federal University of Pará-UFPA, Rua Augusto Corrêa, 66075 Belém, PA, Brazil
Interests: bioactive compounds; essential oil; phytochemistry; natural food
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Jofre J. S. Freitas

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Centro de Estudos Pré-Clínicos da Amazônia, Universidade do Estado do Pará, Belém 66087-662, Brazil
Interests: bioactive compounds; oxidative biochemistry; Amazon plants; ethnopharmacology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Mental health has been a challenge for Public Health systems all over the world. According to the World Health Organization report (2022), an epidemiological study affirms that 970 million people have some type of psychiatric disorder all over the world in 2019, with an estimated substantial increment after 2020, elicited by COVID-19 pandemic as expected. In addition, neurological conditions, i.e., neurodegenerative disorders, have increased in all countries. Consequently, the cost of mental or neurological disorder treatments has increased globally. Unfortunately, ineffectiveness and low adherence characterize psychiatric and neurological therapeutics. Considering the multifactorial etiology of neurological conditions, novel approaches have been proposed, particularly phytomedicine. Bioactive compounds emerge as a valuable source for the several brain affections, including depression, anxiety, cognitive abnormalities, epilepsy, among others. The discovery of targets involved in the neuropharmacological effects to mitigate such neurological disturbances are fundamental in the development of new agents in the therapeutics.

This Special Issue aims to gather original articles or reviews from experts in natural products and bioactive compounds with central nervous system activities, focusing on the neuropharmacological context, to provide potential therapeutics to treat neurological conditions and psychiatric disorders.

Dr. Cristiane S. F. Maia
Dr. Enéas A. Fontes-Júnior
Dr. Mozaniel Santana de Oliveira
Dr. Jofre J. S. Freitas
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. Pharmaceuticals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2900 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
  • bioactive compounds
  • neurological conditions
  • psychiatric disorders
  • phytomedicine

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

23 pages, 1191 KB  
Article
Comparative Study on Extracts from Traditional Medicinal Plants Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench and Onopordum acanthium (L.): Antioxidant Activity In Vitro and Anxiolytic Effect In Vivo
by Maria Vlasheva, Mariana Katsarova, Ilin Kandilarov, Hristina Zlatanova-Tenisheva, Petya Gardjeva, Petko Denev, Kiril Atliev, Nora Sadakova, Maria Dimitrova, Ilia Kostadinov and Stela Dimitrova
Pharmaceuticals 2025, 18(12), 1801; https://doi.org/10.3390/ph18121801 - 26 Nov 2025
Viewed by 385
Abstract
Background: Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench (EP) and Onopordum acanthium (L.) (OA) are promising medicinal plants with diverse biological activities but there is no information on the effects of their combinations. To harness the therapeutic potential of both while minimizing the risk of [...] Read more.
Background: Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench (EP) and Onopordum acanthium (L.) (OA) are promising medicinal plants with diverse biological activities but there is no information on the effects of their combinations. To harness the therapeutic potential of both while minimizing the risk of adverse effects, we prepared two combinations (CE1 and CE2) of EP and OA in ratios 1:1 and 3:1, respectively. Methods: Oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), hydroxyl radical absorbance capacity (HORAC), and an electrochemical assay were used to determine the antioxidant activity of the extracts in vitro. The anxiolytic and immunomodulatory properties were studied in rats. Animals were subjected to acute cold stress and anxiety-like behavior was evaluated by the elevated plus maze (EPM) and social interaction test (SIT). Serum IFN-γ, TNF-α and IL-10 levels were measured by ELISA. Results: CE2 demonstrated the highest antioxidant activity (1841.7 μmolTE/g by ORAC, 277.2 GAE/g by HORAC, and 39.6 by electrochemical method). Moreover CE2 produced anxiolytic-like effects—significantly increasing the open arms entries ratio (OAER; p < 0.001), open arms time ratio (OATR; p < 0.01) in the EPM, and prolonging the social interaction time (p < 0.05) versus the stressed control. OA increased OAER (p < 0.01) and OATR (p < 0.001), while EP increased only OAER (p < 0.01). CE1 showed no significant behavioral consequences. CE2 significantly reduced IFN-γ (p < 0.05), and IL-10 levels were elevated in OA and CE2 groups (p < 0.01). No significant changes in TNF-α levels were observed across groups. Conclusions: These findings indicate that CE2 and OA attenuate anxiety-like behavior and modulate the immune response primarily by stimulating IL-10 production. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Product-Derived Treatments of Neurological and Neuropsychiatric Disorders)
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

20 pages, 7185 KB  
Article
Catharanthus roseus Phytochemicals as Multi-Target Modulators of Disability-Linked Neurodegeneration: Bio-Computational Insights
by Qazi Mohammad Sajid Jamal, Ali H. Alharbi, Varish Ahmad and Khurshid Ahmad
Pharmaceuticals 2025, 18(11), 1734; https://doi.org/10.3390/ph18111734 - 14 Nov 2025
Viewed by 386
Abstract
Background: Disability-linked neurodegeneration involves cholinergic dysfunction, amyloidogenesis, glutamatergic excitotoxicity, and dopaminergic imbalance, highlighting the need for multi-target modulation. Catharanthus roseus contains a diverse array of metabolites with potential polypharmacological properties. Methods: We curated 318 Catharanthus roseus metabolites and performed structure-based virtual [...] Read more.
Background: Disability-linked neurodegeneration involves cholinergic dysfunction, amyloidogenesis, glutamatergic excitotoxicity, and dopaminergic imbalance, highlighting the need for multi-target modulation. Catharanthus roseus contains a diverse array of metabolites with potential polypharmacological properties. Methods: We curated 318 Catharanthus roseus metabolites and performed structure-based virtual screening against five CNS targets, namely BACE1, AChE, MAO-B, NMDAR, and D1, using target-specific positive controls. Cross-target intersection ranking nominated three hits. We assessed dynamic stability by 200 ns all-atom molecular dynamics simulations (MDS) and MM/PBSA; ADMET-AI profiled CNS-relevant properties. Results: The three metabolites (PubChem CIDs 485711, 56964592, and 162963996) repeatedly ranked among top binders across targets. All five protein–ligand complexes reached stable MD plateaus (RMSD < ~0.30 nm) with sustained key interactions; BACE1 and AChE showed the highest contact persistence and most favorable ΔG_total/ligand-efficiency. Conclusions: Convergent docking, MDS, and MM/PBSA support these metabolites as tractable multi-target leads, with BACE1/AChE prioritized for enzyme-level validation and the remaining targets for follow-up studies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Product-Derived Treatments of Neurological and Neuropsychiatric Disorders)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

29 pages, 3368 KB  
Article
1-Nitro-2-Phenylethane as a Multitarget Candidate for Cognitive and Psychiatric Disorders: Insights from In Silico and Behavioral Approaches
by Emily Christie Maia Fonseca, Lucas Villar Pedrosa da Silva Pantoja, Daniele Luz de Campos, Fábio José Coelho Souza-Junior, Bruno Gonçalves Pinheiro, Brenda Costa da Conceição, José Guilherme Soares Maia, Caroline Araujo Costa de Lima, Enéas Andrade Fontes-Júnior, Agnaldo Silva Carneiro, Nelson Alberto Nascimento de Alencar, João Augusto Pereira da Rocha, Jofre Jacob Silva Freitas, Joyce Kelly do Rosário da Silva, Mozaniel Santana de Oliveira and Cristiane Socorro Ferraz Maia
Pharmaceuticals 2025, 18(10), 1511; https://doi.org/10.3390/ph18101511 - 9 Oct 2025
Viewed by 702
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Neurological and psychiatric disorders share overlapping mechanisms, such as oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, and neurotransmitter imbalance. In this context, multitarget natural molecules have gained attention. 1-nitro-2-phenylethane (1N2PE), a major constituent of Aniba canelilla essential oil, is known for its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Neurological and psychiatric disorders share overlapping mechanisms, such as oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, and neurotransmitter imbalance. In this context, multitarget natural molecules have gained attention. 1-nitro-2-phenylethane (1N2PE), a major constituent of Aniba canelilla essential oil, is known for its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticholinesterase effects, yet its neuropharmacological profile remains poorly understood. Methods: This study integrated in silico predictions and in vivo behavioral assays to characterize 1N2PE. Results: Pharmacokinetic analyses indicated favorable drug-like properties, with high gastrointestinal absorption, blood–brain barrier penetration, and no P-gp substrate profile. Molecular docking and dynamics revealed stable interactions with dopamine transporter (DAT, ΔG = −26.26 kcal/mol), prostaglandin-H synthase-1 (PGHS-1, ΔG = −20.27 kcal/mol), serotonin transporter (SERT, ΔG = −18.20 kcal/mol), and acetylcholinesterase (AChE, ΔG = −16.58 kcal/mol). In vivo, using a scopolamine-induced impairment model, 1N2PE significantly improved spatial memory and cognition in the Morris water maze. Treated animals reduced the distance to the target zone by ~40% compared with scopolamine-only rats (p < 0.01), normalized latency during training, and exhibited 30% less immobility (p < 0.05), indicating antidepressant-like effects. Moreover, 1N2PE attenuated anxiety-like thigmotaxis, restoring exploratory patterns (p < 0.0001). Conclusions: Together, these findings highlight 1N2PE as a multitarget candidate for cognitive and psychiatric disorders, combining favorable pharmacokinetic properties with preclinical efficacy, warranting further biochemical and translational investigations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Product-Derived Treatments of Neurological and Neuropsychiatric Disorders)
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-3
Back to TopTop