Toxicological Effects of Natural Products Derived from Plants or Animals Used in Therapeutical Treatments

Dear Colleagues,

The utilisation of natural products (NPs) has seen a marked increase due to their beneficial effects in human and animal health. NPs represent a promising resource in the discovery of novel drugs. However, products of natural origin are not always safe or free from side effects and toxicity.

Most NPs are of vegetable origin, derived from traditionally used or recently discovered plants and fungi, but there is also growing interest in substances of animal origin (such as venom or animal hormones derived from insects, marine organisms, or small vertebrates).

Our aim in launching this Special Issue is to showcase articles analysing applications of NPs as therapeutic agents where toxicological evaluations have been carried out.

We are pleased to invite researchers to submit original articles and reviews covering all aspects of natural products used for their curative properties and how they can impact human and animal health. In particular, this Special Issue will highlight the importance of identifying adverse effects in natural products, with toxicological data collected from in vitro and in vivo models and epidemiological studies.

Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• NPs, including natural chemicals derived from i) plants (e.g., extracts of plant parts, phytoestrogens, or essential oils) and ii) animals (e.g., hormones derived from insects, marine organisms, or small vertebrates).
• The effects of NP exposure on human and animal health and the therapeutic activities of NPs based on their anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antiparasitic, antioxidants, antitumoral, anxiolytic, and other properties.
• The therapeutic properties of NPs in the context of tumours and inflammatory, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, metabolic, and infectious diseases.
• The investigation of toxicological effects using animal models, in vitro analysis, and clinical, biomonitoring, and epidemiological data; toxicological data should be related to a range of topics, such as cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, reproductive toxicity, and toxicokinetics.

For this Special Issue, we will only consider papers that present the toxicological aspects of natural substances in addition to their therapeutic effects.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Laura Narciso
Dr. Carla Raggi
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 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. Toxics 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 2600 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.

• natural products
• plant
• animal
• therapeutic effect
• toxicological evaluation
• cytotoxicity
• genotoxicity
• reproductive toxicity