Discovery, Metabolism and Potential Bio-Activities of Natural Products in Traditional Medicine 2024

A special issue of Pharmaceuticals (ISSN 1424-8247). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Products".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 July 2024 | Viewed by 1699

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Medicine, Kunming University, Kunming, 650208, China
Interests: isolation and identification of plant and microbial natural products
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Traditional medicine is a precious commodity accumulated by the struggle between human beings and nature. A large number of studies have found that natural products in traditional medicines contain active substances that treat diseases. Many of those natural products are being developed into clinical drugs or used as lead compounds for drug design and synthesis. With the development of modern separation technology, more and more trace natural products or metabolites have been discovered and identified. Moreover, it is well-known that the bioavailability and metabolic characteristics of natural products in vivo are an important basis for their biological activities. In addition, the exploration of the potential biological activities of those natural products is conducive to their further drug development and application. Therefore, this Special Issue is expected to collect original works or reviews on the latest advances and prospects of discovery, metabolism and potential bio-activities of natural products in traditional medicine. With this Special Issue, we hope to publish research results that will further promote people's understanding of the properties of the natural products isolated from traditional medicine and to contribute to the development of drugs based on those natural products.

Prof. Dr. Shengbao Cai
Prof. Dr. Jiangbo He
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • traditional medicine
  • natural product
  • bioaccessibility and bioavailability
  • bioactivity evaluation
  • metabolism

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 946 KiB  
Article
Bioactivity Profiling of Daedaleopsis confragosa (Bolton) J. Schröt. 1888: Implications for Its Possible Application in Enhancing Women’s Reproductive Health
by Djordje Ilić, Maja Karaman, Mirjana Bogavac, Jovana Mišković and Milena Rašeta
Pharmaceuticals 2024, 17(5), 600; https://doi.org/10.3390/ph17050600 - 8 May 2024
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Abstract
This study investigates the bioactivity profile of wood-rotting fungal species Daedaleopsis confragosa (Bolton) J. Schröt. 1888, focusing on its antioxidant, cytotoxic, and genotoxic activities and enzyme modulation properties with respect to its possible application in terms of enhancing women’s reproductive health. Two types [...] Read more.
This study investigates the bioactivity profile of wood-rotting fungal species Daedaleopsis confragosa (Bolton) J. Schröt. 1888, focusing on its antioxidant, cytotoxic, and genotoxic activities and enzyme modulation properties with respect to its possible application in terms of enhancing women’s reproductive health. Two types of extracts, including those based on EtOH extraction (DC) and hydrodistillation (DCHD), were investigated. The results indicate that the radical scavenging capacity against the DPPH radical and reduction potential were stronger in the DC extracts owing to the higher total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) (25.30 ± 1.05 mg GAE/g d.w. and 2.84 ± 0.85 mg QE/g d.w., respectively). The same trend was observed in the protein phosphatase-1 (PP1) activity and in the genotoxic activity against the δ virus since only the DC extract exhibited DNA disintegration regarding a dilution of 1:100. Conversely, the DCHD extract exhibited increased hemolytic and cytotoxic effects (339.39% and IC50 = 27.76 ± 0.89 μg/mL—72 h incubation, respectively), along with greater inhibition of the AChE enzyme (IC50 = 3.11 ± 0.45 mg/mL) and hemolytic activity. These results suggest that terpenoids and steroids may be responsible for the observed activity in DCHD as these compounds could potentially be extracted following the HD procedure. This comprehensive bioactivity profiling offers valuable insights into the potential therapeutic applications of D. confragosa from Serbia and underscores the importance of further investigations for harnessing its pharmacological potential. Full article
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22 pages, 11173 KiB  
Article
Exploring the Mechanisms of Traditional Chinese Herbal Therapy in Gastric Cancer: A Comprehensive Network Pharmacology Study of the Tiao-Yuan-Tong-Wei decoction
by Juan Chen, Jingdong Kang, Shouli Yuan, Peter O’Connell, Zizhu Zhang, Lina Wang, Junying Liu and Rongfeng Chen
Pharmaceuticals 2024, 17(4), 414; https://doi.org/10.3390/ph17040414 - 25 Mar 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 977
Abstract
The use of herbal medicine as an adjuvant therapy in the management of gastric cancer has yielded encouraging outcomes, notably in enhancing overall survival rates and extending periods of disease remission. Additionally, herbal medicines have demonstrated potential anti-metastatic effects in gastric cancer. Despite [...] Read more.
The use of herbal medicine as an adjuvant therapy in the management of gastric cancer has yielded encouraging outcomes, notably in enhancing overall survival rates and extending periods of disease remission. Additionally, herbal medicines have demonstrated potential anti-metastatic effects in gastric cancer. Despite these promising findings, there remains a significant gap in our understanding regarding the precise pharmacological mechanisms, the identification of specific herbal compounds, and their safety and efficacy profiles in the context of gastric cancer therapy. In addressing this knowledge deficit, the present study proposes a comprehensive exploratory analysis of the Tiao-Yuan-Tong-Wei decoction (TYTW), utilizing an integrative approach combining system pharmacology and molecular docking techniques. This investigation aims to elucidate the pharmacological actions of TYTW in gastric pathologies. It is hypothesized that the therapeutic efficacy of TYTW in counteracting gastric diseases stems from its ability to modulate key signaling pathways, thereby influencing PIK3CA activity and exerting anti-inflammatory effects. This modulation is observed predominantly in pathways such as PI3K/AKT, MAPK, and those directly associated with gastric cancer. Furthermore, the study explores how TYTW’s metabolites (agrimoniin, baicalin, corosolic acid, and luteolin) interact with molecular targets like AKT1, CASP3, ESR1, IL6, PIK3CA, and PTGS2, and their subsequent impact on these critical pathways and biological processes. Therefore, this study represents preliminary research on the anticancer molecular mechanism of TYTW by performing network pharmacology and providing theoretical evidence for further experimental investigations. Full article
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