AG
arquimedes gasparotto junior
Federal University of Grande Dourados
Dourados, Brazil
About this Research Topic
Submission deadlines
Manuscript Submission Deadline 30 April 2027
This Research Topic is currently accepting articles
Background
Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death globally, yet the therapeutic options for ion-channel-mediated disorders — arrhythmia, hypertension, and cardiac dysfunction — are constrained by adverse effects, limited target selectivity, and emerging drug resistance. Medicinal plants and fungi represent a structurally diverse and underexplored reservoir of ion-channel modulators, validated across centuries of ethnopharmacological use.
This Research Topic integrates ethnobotanical knowledge with modern electrophysiology, natural product chemistry, and translational pharmacology to evaluate plant- and fungal-derived compounds as cardioprotective, antiarrhythmic, and vaso-regulatory agents. The primary focus is on voltage-gated sodium (Naᵥ), calcium (Caᵥ), and potassium (Kᵥ/Kᵢᵣ/K_ATP) channels, together with HCN and TRP channels. Contributions addressing ion-channel modulation in neurological or metabolic contexts where cardiovascular outcomes are relevant are also welcome.
We invite submissions on:
- Ethnopharmacological documentation and bioactivity-guided fractionation of cardioprotective plant/fungal materials
- Electrophysiological characterisation of bioactive metabolites (patch-clamp, MEA, or in silico ion-channel modelling)
- Structure–activity relationships and molecular docking of natural ion-channel modulators
- In vitro and in vivo cardiovascular pharmacology
- Network pharmacology and systems biology approaches linking traditional remedies to ion-channel targets
- Translational and clinical perspectives on safety, selectivity, and therapeutic potential
All submissions must comply with the Four Pillars of Best Practice in Ethnopharmacology and the ConPhyMP statement (Front. Pharmacol. 13:953205). Full documentation of material origin, authentication, extraction, and processing is mandatory — manuscripts lacking this information will be desk-rejected. Guidelines and the self-assessment tool are at: https://ga-online.org/best-practice/
Both original research and review articles are welcome.
Article types and fees
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
- Clinical Trial
- Data Report
- Editorial
- FAIR² Data
- General Commentary
- Hypothesis and Theory
- Methods
- Mini Review
- Opinion
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:
- Clinical Trial
- Data Report
- Editorial
- FAIR² Data
- General Commentary
- Hypothesis and Theory
- Methods
- Mini Review
- Opinion
- Original Research
- Perspective
- Policy and Practice Reviews
- Review
- Study Protocol
- Systematic Review
- Technology and Code
Keywords: Cardioprotective natural products, Medicinal plants, Antiarrhythmic agents, Voltage-gated ion channels, Ethnopharmacology, Ion channel modulation, Natural product drug discovery, Medicinal fungi, Phytochemistry, Cardiovascular pharmacology, Structure–activity relationships, Bioactive metabolites, Translational pharmacology, Traditional medicine
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.
