Natural Products and Microbiology in Human Health

Dear Colleagues,

Human health is closely linked to microbial exposure, and to the maintenance of the microbiome. Pathogenic bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and viruses cause a myriad of diseases that may seriously impact human health. The use of chemotherapies to combat these diseases has long relied upon traditional medicines and natural products. Indeed, penicillin (and the majority of other first-generation antibiotics) were initially identified as bacterial and fungal natural products, used by microbes to provide a competitive advantage over other cells in their environment. A large portion of the antibiotics produced as second and third-generation antibiotics were based on the chemical scaffolds of the first-generation natural product antibiotics. Notably, even before the development of current antibiotic therapies, natural medicines containing bioactive natural products were used to combat pathogenic diseases. Plant-based medicines were particularly important in this respect and continue to be important in many regions of the world. With the recent development of multiple antibiotic-resistant pathogens, the discovery of novel antibiotic therapies is a priority for medical science and natural products are promising as new drug leads.

Natural products and the microbiome may also impact human health in other fundamental ways. The human microbiome comprises a myriad of bacteria and archaea, protozoa, fungi, and viruses, both within and outside our bodies. Alterations in the natural microbial balance may affect human health via disease induction. Microbiome dysbiosis increases the host’s susceptibility to disease by allowing pathogenic microbes to flourish and out-compete the beneficial microflora. Natural products may also function as pre- or probiotics, allowing the natural microflora and beneficial microbes to dominate, thereby inhibiting the growth of pathogens. Therefore, natural products can also influence human health by modulating the human microbiome.  

We invite the submission of original research and review articles focusing on natural products and microbiology and their effects on human health. Potential topics include but are not limited to:

• The antimicrobial activity of natural products.
• Identification of natural products with antimicrobial activity.
• Plant-derived natural products and their effects on microbes important to human health.
• Microbial-derived natural products and their effects on microbes important to human health.
• Natural products derived from marine organisms and their effects on microbes important to human health.
• Antibacterial activity of natural products against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
• Potentiation of antibiotic (or probiotic) activity by natural products.
• Modulation of the human microbiome and disease induction by natural products and traditional medicines.
• Microbiome dysbiosis (or microbiome maintenance) induced by natural products, and its effects on human health.
• Natural products as nutritional factors and antioxidants in maintaining gastrointestinal microbial homeostasis and human health.
• Natural products as probiotics (and/or prebiotics) and their affects on human health.

Dr. Ian Edwin Cock
Guest Editor

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