Medicinal plants and their derivatives, which have been so far been commonly used as health products and food supplements, still represent innovative strategies being used for managing multiple human diseases including cancer, diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndromes as well as many neurological, cardiovascular, respiratory, and infectious disorders. Additionally, many of these products are a source of vital components for the body that exert protective effects, including anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-arthritis as well as enhancing memory and several other cognitive functions. An increasing number of medicinal plants remain in use in the context of clinical practice and self-care, based on the perspective originating from traditional views in the field of ethnobotany, one that is often missing a sound and proven characterization of efficacy. Furthermore, more detailed and precise evidence concerning their long term activity and safety is still required. An emerging field of research is now investigating the phytocomplex, which is the complex mixture of primary and secondary plant metabolites, with specific studies aiming to elucidate the mechanisms substantiating the putative health effects. A wide range of scientific literature is focusing on the relationships between qualitative and quantitative secondary metabolite composition and the modulation of biochemical pathways playing key roles in the burden caused by oxidative and inflammatory stress. In the view of this new renaissance concerning the use of medicinal plants, a promising approach is also to focus on the pharmaco-toxicological characterization of high-quality byproducts, which are traditionally discarded as waste. Notably, an accurate evaluation of these herbal derivatives could open up new horizons in the pharmaceutical industry to implement innovative treatment options.
For this Research Topic, we invite authors to submit Original Research and Review articles that will explore the potential investigation of medicinal plant-derived and isolated metabolites’ activity, in relation to efficacy, safety, and future application to improve human health. We encourage submissions highlighting novel insights dealing with the following subtopics, including but not limited to:
• Potential use of active components in managing inflammatory processes, deeply involved in chronic and degenerative diseases.
• Effects related to chemical and technological processes on biocompatibility.
• Intrinsic and production process-induced toxicity.
• Toxicological profiles obtained from validated in vitro and ex vivo methods that can further support in vivo pharmacological studies.
Of note, authors should consider that only studies dealing with chemically characterized compounds will be considered for peer review in Inflammation Pharmacology, while Ethnopharmacology does accept studies with crude extracts/multiherbal preparations as long as they fully comply with the
Four Pillars of Best Practice in Ethnopharmacology (you can freely download the full version
here).
As a final word, with this article collection the Topic Editors would also like to note and celebrate the 20th anniversary of the “Giardino dei Semplici” botanical garden, which is operated by the D’Annunzio University within the Department of Drug Sciences.
