A Feasible Approach for Natural Products to Treatment of Diseases – Second Edition

Dear Colleagues,

A natural product is a compound or substance that originates from a living being. Natural products from both plant and animal sources have been used since ancient times to treat diseases and illnesses. The roots, leaves, rhizomes, or bark of medicinal plants commonly feature in the herbal preparations of many traditional medicinal systems. Similarly, hooves, skins, bones, feathers, and tusks can be essential ingredients in the preparation of Indigenous curative or protective remedies. Many natural products, such as curcumin from turmeric, catechin from green tea, and astaxanthin from shellfish, are consumed as herbal remedies, functional foods, nutritional supplements, or wellness products to improve health and wellbeing, especially among those with underlying chronic conditions.

Modern medicine has also benefited from the characterisation of key compounds in natural products. Acetylsalicylic acid, more commonly known as aspirin, is a synthetic derivative of salicylic acid naturally found in willow bark used as a traditional pain remedy. Quinine, a medication used to treat malaria, is a bitter compound that comes from cinchona tree bark. Furthermore, Taxanes, a class of diterpenes initially identified from plants of the genus Taxus, are the mainstay of modern chemotherapy in the form of paclitaxel and docetaxel. In fact, over 60% of the current anticancer drugs were derived from natural sources in one way or another.

Natural products still have enormous potential in the treatment of diseases; our current understanding is just the tip of the iceberg. However, a lot of preclinical and clinical research is required to uncover the active constituents, mechanisms of action, pharmacokinetics, safety, and toxicity of natural products, as well as to address their extraction, isolation, and standardisation and identify their effective mode of delivery, before they can feasibly be applied in treatment.

In this Special Issue, we invite researchers to contribute recent original research and review articles that will strengthen knowledge of not only the therapeutic and preventative benefits of natural products but also the mechanisms, methods, and processes of treatment.

Dr. Sokcheon Pak
Dr. Soo Liang Ooi
Guest Editors

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• traditional medicine
• flavonoids
• anti-inflammatory agents
• chemotherapy
• active compounds
• nanotechnology

• A Feasible Approach for Natural Products to Treatment of Diseases in Molecules (14 articles)