Phenolic Compounds Loaded by Drug Delivery Systems Applied to Mitigate Inflammatory States

Dear Colleagues,

Immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) affect 3 to 7% of the developed world’s population and include approximately 80 conditions whose prevalence is increasing. New discoveries have been attributed to the inflammatory phenomenon, an extremely important role in the pathophysiological processes of neoplastic, neurodegenerative, infectious, autoimmune, and other diseases. Still, a considerable quantity of the patients with a particular clinically defined IMID will be unsuccessful in responding to any specific targeted mechanism of action. This can be justified, in part, as each clinically defined IMID is actually a heterogeneous syndrome rather than a molecularly defined disease entity. A fundamentally new methodology that takes the field from one that is centered on clinical signs and symptoms to one predicated on immunological and molecular mechanisms is drastically required. For this, a new form of thinking is necessary. IMIDs may be handled according to shared commonalities in their pathogenic cells and pathways, and therapeutic efforts ought to be directed at these cells and processes instead of at clinical features.

With this in mind, it is true that the ingestion of a healthy diet is suboptimal worldwide (i.e., low consumption of nuts and seeds, whole grains, and milk), while the consumption of less healthy diets (i.e., sugary beverages, processed, red meat, and salt) is more common. A diet based on the high consumption of sodium and the low consumption of fruit or whole grains is responsible for more than half of diet-related deaths and two-thirds of diet-related disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). These results are consistent around the globe.

The bioavailability of dietary compounds, in general, and phytochemicals, in particular, depends upon their release from the food matrix, their digestive stability, and the competence of transepithelial passage. The chemical structure of phenolic compounds further governs the rate and degree of intestinal absorption and the nature of metabolites circulating in plasma.

New delivery systems within the field of nanotechnology could provide higher efficiency of dietary compounds as phenolic compounds when ingested by humans, demonstrating their health benefits in well-established ways of prevention, treatment, or adjuvant in addition to conventional pharmacological treatments. A new nutritional approach may be adopted by constructing a personalized diet using these new formulations for drug delivery as micro- and nanocarriers of phenolic compounds. It is also worth noting the current changes in preferences because of the advanced knowledge surrounding the interplay between health and food, which has caused a rise in new food supply demands.

Authors are invited to submit original research articles and reviews in this prevailing and curious research field in an effort to envision future precise applications for bioactive compounds in the fight against IMIDs, new drug delivery strategies for natural products load, and new findings in phenolic profile of unknown or less known natural sources of bioactive compounds. The mechanisms of action at the cellular, molecular, and genetic levels, pharmacokinetics, and toxicokinetics are of biggest interest.

Dr. Maria-Eduardo Figueira
Dr. Rosa Direito
Guest Editors

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