About this Research Topic
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).
Keywords: Health benefits, Phytochemicals, Chronic metabolic diseases, Diabetes mellitus, Diabetic complications, Intestinal flora, Mechanism of action
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.