There are a variety of symbiotic bacteria, fungi, viruses, and other microorganisms in the human body, which are vital to the normal physiological function of the human body, and the imbalance of microorganisms will induce a variety of diseases. Recent studies have shown that the disturbance of microorganisms and their metabolites can lead to changes in the function of the central nervous system, and then participate in the occurrence and development of CNS diseases.

The changes in central nervous system function may cause cognitive impairment and negative emotions such as depression and anxiety. Depression is a common affective disorder, responsible for more than 50% of suicides worldwide, WHO predicts that depression will become the world's largest disease burden by 2030. The pathogenesis hypotheses of depression include monoamine hypothesis, glutamate hypothesis, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis hypothesis, and neurotrophic hypothesis, and with the in-depth exploration of the microbiome, the theory of microbiome-gut-brain axis began to form and develop rapidly. Previous studies have shown that the diversity, structure, and abundance of microbiota, as well as their metabolites, may act on the brain by changing metabolic pathways, vagus nerve, endocrine, immune inflammatory response, body fluids, and the structure and function of host neurons, and further induce the occurrence of depression through the two-way influence of gut-brain axis.

In recent years, research on microbiota as a new therapeutic target has emerged. Herbal medicine has an irreplaceable position in the treatment of depression due to its advantages of good therapeutic effects and few adverse reactions. Studies have shown that herbal medicine affects the structure and composition of microorganisms, regulates their diversity and abundance, and regulates the production and activity of metabolic pathways and metabolites, thereby improving the balance of microorganisms in the body, reducing the level of inflammatory factors, promoting the secretion of monoamine neurotransmitters and brain-derived neurotrophic factors, and restoring brain function, to achieve the effect of treating depression.

On this basis, this topic aims to focus on the latest scientific contributions of medicinal plants to regulate the microbiome, and prevent and treat various central nervous system diseases such as depression, which is of great significance to promote the research on the mechanism of herbal medicine using the microbiome as a therapeutic target.

This topic encourages researchers in the field of herbal medicine worldwide to submit high-quality original research articles, clinical trials, or reviews on the role of microorganisms and their metabolites in the adjuvant treatment and prevention of CNS diseases such as depression with herbal medicine. Topics include, but are not limited to:

• Herbal medicines that regulate microorganisms and their metabolites in clinical studies to improve or treat depression and other CNS diseases.

• The molecular mechanism of herbal medicine in regulating microbiome in the adjuvant treatment/prevention of depression and other CNS diseases.

• The interaction between host and microbiome in the treatment of depression and other CNS diseases with herbal medicine, including in vivo and in vitro studies.

Please self-assess your MS using the ConPhyMP tool (https://ga-online.org/best-practice/), and follow the standards established in the ConPhyMP statement Front. Pharmacol. 13:953205. All the manuscripts need to fully comply with the Four Pillars of Best Practice in Ethnopharmacology (you can freely download the full version here). Importantly, please ascertain that the ethnopharmacological context is clearly described (pillar 3d) and that the material investigated is characterized in detail (pillars 2 a and b).

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