Advances in Plant Alkaloids as Therapeutic Drugs: Pharmacology and Toxicology
A special issue of Pharmaceuticals (ISSN 1424-8247). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Products".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2022) | Viewed by 4215
Special Issue Editors
Interests: neurobiology and treatment of substance use disorders; pain; psychedelics; kratom; botanical alkaloids
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Naturally occurring alkaloids are found in various plant species across the globe. Of those discovered, several are currently used to treat a range of maladies including cancer, diabetes, viral and bacterial infections, cardiac dysfunction, and pain. However, despite their potential benefits, plant alkaloids may also be toxic and can lead to serious injury or death.
Recent drug development strategies centered around computer-aided drug design and empirical rules have had limited success, and the present approaches have done little to ease the global health burden. Natural reservoirs of compounds remain the main inspiration for novel therapeutics. There is an urgent need to identify and assess new compounds to improve existing treatments and address unmet healthcare needs. Daly and Cordell (2021) suggest the following alkaloid-rich plant families as “targets” for further investigation: Amaryllidaceae, Annonaceae, Apocynaceae, Asteraceae, Berberidaceae, Boraginaceae, Buxaceae, Celastraceae, Fabaceae, Lauraceae, Liliaceae, Loganiaceae, Menispermaceae, Papaveraceae, Piperaceae, Poaceae, Ranunculaceae, Rubiaceae, Rutaceae, and Solanaceae.
As Guest Editors, we are seeking original research and review contributions on recent developments in the identification and characterization of plant alkaloids both as potential pharmacotherapies and toxins.
Prof. Dr. Scott E. Hemby
Dr. Robert Coover
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- drug discovery
- alkaloid
- cancer
- inflammation
- antimicrobial
- pain
- substance use/abuse
- neurological disorders
- cardiology
- pulmonary
- toxicity
- drug resistance
