About this Research Topic
The field of traditional medicine has long been a cornerstone of healthcare systems worldwide, with medicinal plants, their derivatives, and metals playing a crucial role in treatment practices. However, the assumption that "natural equals safe" is increasingly being challenged as evidence mounts regarding the potential health risks associated with these classical remedies. The convergence of ethnopharmacology and modern medicine underscores the necessity for a thorough scientific evaluation to ensure the safety and efficacy of traditional treatments. Notably, metals such as mercury, sulfur, and arsenic, commonly used in traditional medicine, can undergo biotransformation, leading to adverse effects like bioaccumulation, oxidative stress, inflammation, genomic damage, and microbiota alterations. Despite the historical consumption of these remedies, their mechanisms of action and immediate health impacts remain inadequately understood. This gap highlights the urgent need for comprehensive toxicological assessments, especially as traditional medicine gains global interest and is increasingly integrated into modern healthcare systems. Such assessments should include systematic evaluations of potential toxic effects, safe dosage ranges, and interactions with the dermal and gastrointestinal microbiota, as well as pharmaceutical drugs.
This Research Topic aims to compile a collection of articles focused on the toxicological evaluation of traditional medicine through the application of modern scientific tools. By employing analytical chemistry, pre-clinical and clinical studies, molecular biology, and network pharmacology, the research seeks to unravel the complex interactions of traditional remedies within the human body. The primary objective is to enhance understanding of the toxicokinetic and toxicity profiles of herbal and herbo-mineral medicines, thereby ensuring their safe and effective use in contemporary healthcare settings.
To gather further insights into the toxicological assessment of traditional medicine, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
- Elemental and phytochemical analysis of traditional medicines and their interaction with human health.
- Innovative research on the toxicokinetic and toxicity profiles of herbal and herbo-mineral traditional medicines using alternative testing methodologies.
- Interaction of traditional medicine with dermal and gastrointestinal tract microbiota and their adverse effects on human health.
- Knowledge gaps in regulatory guidelines focused on traditional medicine and strategies to address them at national and international levels.
- Impacts of various preparation methods of herbo-mineral traditional medicines for the cure and management of different ailments.
All submissions involving extracts from plants or fungi and other natural products , must follow the best-practice assessment criteria defined as “The Four Pillars of Ethnopharmacology” to be considered for peer review. Please note, all submissions to the journal using plant extracts or preparations must also adhere to these Four Pillars to be considered for peer review, regardless of the specialty section, as a baseline standard for sample characterization. Check your MS using https://ga-online.org/best-practice/ and submit the relevant filled in check-lists
This Research Topic aims to compile a collection of articles focused on the toxicological evaluation of traditional medicine through the application of modern scientific tools. By employing analytical chemistry, pre-clinical and clinical studies, molecular biology, and network pharmacology, the research seeks to unravel the complex interactions of traditional remedies within the human body. The primary objective is to enhance understanding of the toxicokinetic and toxicity profiles of herbal and herbo-mineral medicines, thereby ensuring their safe and effective use in contemporary healthcare settings.
To gather further insights into the toxicological assessment of traditional medicine, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
- Elemental and phytochemical analysis of traditional medicines and their interaction with human health.
- Innovative research on the toxicokinetic and toxicity profiles of herbal and herbo-mineral traditional medicines using alternative testing methodologies.
- Interaction of traditional medicine with dermal and gastrointestinal tract microbiota and their adverse effects on human health.
- Knowledge gaps in regulatory guidelines focused on traditional medicine and strategies to address them at national and international levels.
- Impacts of various preparation methods of herbo-mineral traditional medicines for the cure and management of different ailments.
All submissions involving extracts from plants or fungi and other natural products , must follow the best-practice assessment criteria defined as “The Four Pillars of Ethnopharmacology” to be considered for peer review. Please note, all submissions to the journal using plant extracts or preparations must also adhere to these Four Pillars to be considered for peer review, regardless of the specialty section, as a baseline standard for sample characterization. Check your MS using https://ga-online.org/best-practice/ and submit the relevant filled in check-lists
Keywords: traditional medicine, toxicology, medicinal plants
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
