Inflammation is a normal, healthy response to injury, infections, or other medical conditions. Inflammatory diseases are composed of numerous disorders and conditions that are characterized by inflammation, such as inflammatory bowel disease, hepatitis, and rheumatoid arthritis. In pathological conditions with inflammatory diseases, the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cells or tissues, resulting in chronic pain, redness, swelling, stiffness, and damage to the body. Researchers have identified some potential causes of inflammatory diseases, including diet, stress, and sleep disorders. Treatment for inflammatory diseases helps to prevent or minimize disease progression. However, common medications used are frequently accompanied by serious adverse effects. There is an urgent need to develop new therapies for inflammatory diseases, which requires elucidating the critical genes and molecular mechanisms.

In this Research Topic, we aim to address these issues:
1) To discover novel targets or biomarkers for inflammatory diseases. In addition to the mRNAs, non-coding RNAs (e.g., lncRNAs, circRNAs, and microRNAs) are extensively transcribed and are involved in multiple biological functions. The discovery of noncoding RNAs opens up new prospects for the diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory diseases. Though it’s challenging to identify novel noncoding RNAs, high-throughput sequencing with further biological validations will be very helpful.
2) To identify anti-inflammatory molecules and their targets. Many bioactive compounds show anti-inflammatory activities. The major challenge is to identify the molecular targets of the compounds. Network pharmacology and molecular docking could be used to elucidate the key targets of compounds.
3) To clarify the molecular mechanism underlining the regulatory role of genes/proteins on inflammatory diseases. A combination of biological experiments with genetically modified mouse models can be used in mechanistic investigations.

In this Research Topic, we welcome article or review manuscripts on the following subtopics, but are not limited to:
•Discovery of precise biomarkers and targets for certain types of inflammation diseases.
•Identification of novel or known compounds in the treatment or prevention of inflammatory diseases.
•Elucidating the mechanisms underlining the anti-inflammatory effects of critical molecules (e.g., proteins and compounds) against inflammatory diseases.
• Uncovering the alteration of drug disposition under inflammation.

The experimental subjects could be animals, patients, and cell models. The compounds could be natural or synthetic. The molecular targets could be genes, proteins, and noncoding RNAs. All bioinformatic analyses and docking experiments must be experimentally verified.

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Frontiers in Pharmacology

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