With the increased awareness of herbal medicines’ roles in health and nutrition, scientists are dedicated to researching the functional or bioactive metabolites in medicinal plants. Recently, numerous studies have shown bioactivities of natural products against chronic metabolic diseases, and some bioactive compounds in herbal medicines can prevent such diseases. There is growing concern around the world about public health problems associated with chronic diseases, such as diabetes, obesity and hyperlipidemia. The gut microbiota composition is now considered the central axis of the host’s health. Alteration of the normal gut microbiome, or gut dysbiosis, leads to physiological imbalance and dysregulated immune activation with the induction of different metabolic diseases. Diabetes mellitus is the most common metabolic disease which is characterized by many complications. Such as diabetic nephropathy, diabetic encephalopathy, diabetic retinopathy, etc. Chronic metabolic diseases are diseases caused by metabolic problems, which can be triggered by metabolic disorders and metabolic exuberance, etc.
The purpose of this Research Topic is to provide a platform for critically assessing the current scientific evidence available about the role of herbal medicine in chronic metabolic diseases, with a focus on polyphenols, flavones, and their derivatives. Testing components extracted from herbal medicine can be new or have been approved to prevent or treat chronic metabolic diseases. We will collect and summarize the existing knowledge on chronic metabolic diseases prevention effects of herbal medicine, including diabetes mellitus, diabetic complications, fatty liver, hyperlipidemia, obesity, etc. Natural product effects on the occurrence, progress and treatment of chronic metabolic diseases through modulation of the intestinal microenvironment and microbiome are also within the scope of this research topic. Manuscripts may cover in vitro models, animal models, and human studies. The underlying molecular mechanisms of how these herbal medicines regulate their health-promoting effects may be covered. Please note that many polyphenols are known for non-specific (‘promiscuous‘) effects if assessed in vitro and, therefore, such studies generally will not be of pharmacological relevance and cannot be accepted if this is the sole experimental approach.
This Research Topic seeks to attract studies on herbal medicine in the prevention and treatment of chronic metabolic diseases from all local medical traditions globally. We welcome original research and review articles, among other article types, focusing on the following subtopics, but not limited to:
• Novel molecular mechanisms of herbal medicine in the prevention and treatment of chronic metabolic diseases (CMDs)
• Novel therapeutic targets of herbal medicine in the prevention and treatment of CMDs.
• Novel molecular mechanisms and therapeutic targets for treating CMDs.
• Molecular mechanism of natural products regulating intestinal microflora and restoring abnormal metabolism in CMDs.
• Methodology of the screening strategy for the discovery of novel mechanisms and therapeutic targets for treating CMDs.
For manuscripts dealing with extracts obtained from a medicinal plant or a poly herbal fomulation, characterization of active chemical substances in natural compounds should be included (using analytical methods such as HPLC, LC-MS, GC-MS, etc.).
All the manuscripts submitted to the collection will need to fully comply with the
Four Pillars of Best Practice in Ethnopharmacology (you can freely download the full version
here).
