Nutraceuticals are natural compounds with potential immunomodulatory effects, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and antifungal power. In an inflammatory microenvironment, these functional foods can interact with the immune system, balancing the exacerbated proinflammatory response. Thus, in response to antigens or tissue damage, inflammation is one of the first responses promoted by the immune system, in which cells from both innate and adaptive immunity participate. At the cellular level, in the early stages, after the recognition of a danger signal, a cascade of molecular events in inflammatory cells promotes the production of inflammatory mediators. The anti-inflammatory activity of nutraceuticals allows the downregulation or modulation of MAPKs, NF-κB, PI3K/Akt, AP-1 and JAK-STAT signaling, and consequently, could lead to anti-inflammatory effects by modulating the levels of pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators.
To achieve a more extensive understanding of recent scientific knowledge and current trends, signaling pathways modulated by nutraceuticals in local, systemic, acute or chronic inflammatory processes, associated with different pathologies with inflammatory components (such as diabetes, obesity, inflammatory bowel diseases, allergic reactions, among others), this special issue focuses on the recent scientific and technical advances made in this field. This will allow us to analyze in depth the possibility of using functional foods in the therapy of these pathologies, whether alone or in synergy with traditional treatments.
We welcome the submission of Original Research, Review, Mini Review, and Perspective articles on themes including, but not limited to:
- the role of functional foods in preventing the activation of inflammatory signaling pathways;
- possible target signaling pathways at the metabolic level;
- recent advances in new therapeutic targets.
Article types and fees
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
Brief Research Report
Case Report
Clinical Trial
Conceptual Analysis
Data Report
Editorial
FAIR² Data
General Commentary
Hypothesis and Theory
Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.
Article types
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
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.
