Herbal medicines and natural products have been widely used to treat diseases around the world for centuries. Unlike essential medicines, their potential efficacy and toxicity are unknown until they are used by the public, as premarket approval is not usually required. With the increasing number of herbal medicines and natural products on the market, some of the key questions are often raised: their hepatotoxicity and cardiotoxicity.
Metabolism-mediated toxicity is reported to be one of the underlying reaction mechanisms. Exogenous compounds from herbal medicine or natural products may change their biological activity or toxicity after metabolism. Based on understanding the mechanisms and characteristics, many effective methods have been adopted to reduce the toxicity of herbal medicine or natural products, such as dosage reduction, processing, and compatibility. However, different processing methods and complex compatibility mechanisms lead to many problems, such as the difference in drug safety evaluation systems. Therefore, it is necessary to further understand the toxicity and active composition of herbal medicine or natural products from different perspectives, to avoid misunderstanding and prevent improper use of herbs.
This Research Topic welcomes Original Research and Review Articles and is intended to provide a platform for researchers to present the most recent advances in the metabolism of herbs/natural products and pharmacodynamic or toxic mechanisms.
Areas of interest include, but are not limited to:
• The pharmacokinetics of a new pharmaceutical ingredient or herbal extracts
• Identification of metabolic enzyme inhibitors
• The metabolism of plant-derived products
• Explore the mechanism of the toxicity of Traditional Medicinal Systems
• The evaluation of mechanism on the hepato- and cardiotoxicity
• Herb–herb and herb-drug interactions
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All the manuscripts submitted to the collection will need to fully comply with the
Four Pillars of Best Practice in Ethnopharmacology (you can freely download the full version
here).
Herbal medicines and natural products have been widely used to treat diseases around the world for centuries. Unlike essential medicines, their potential efficacy and toxicity are unknown until they are used by the public, as premarket approval is not usually required. With the increasing number of herbal medicines and natural products on the market, some of the key questions are often raised: their hepatotoxicity and cardiotoxicity.
Metabolism-mediated toxicity is reported to be one of the underlying reaction mechanisms. Exogenous compounds from herbal medicine or natural products may change their biological activity or toxicity after metabolism. Based on understanding the mechanisms and characteristics, many effective methods have been adopted to reduce the toxicity of herbal medicine or natural products, such as dosage reduction, processing, and compatibility. However, different processing methods and complex compatibility mechanisms lead to many problems, such as the difference in drug safety evaluation systems. Therefore, it is necessary to further understand the toxicity and active composition of herbal medicine or natural products from different perspectives, to avoid misunderstanding and prevent improper use of herbs.
This Research Topic welcomes Original Research and Review Articles and is intended to provide a platform for researchers to present the most recent advances in the metabolism of herbs/natural products and pharmacodynamic or toxic mechanisms.
Areas of interest include, but are not limited to:
• The pharmacokinetics of a new pharmaceutical ingredient or herbal extracts
• Identification of metabolic enzyme inhibitors
• The metabolism of plant-derived products
• Explore the mechanism of the toxicity of Traditional Medicinal Systems
• The evaluation of mechanism on the hepato- and cardiotoxicity
• Herb–herb and herb-drug interactions
-------
All the manuscripts submitted to the collection will need to fully comply with the
Four Pillars of Best Practice in Ethnopharmacology (you can freely download the full version
here).
