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Herbal Medicines: Current Advances and Clinical Prospects
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Herbal Medicines: Current Advances and Clinical Prospects

A special issue of J (ISSN 2571-8800). This special issue belongs to the section "Medicine & Pharmacology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2024) | Viewed by 11609

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. James David Adams

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, 1985 Zonal Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
Interests: chronic pain; severe pain; plant medicines; traditional healing; California Indian healing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to contribute to a Special Issue on recent advances in the clinical use of herbal medicines. Herbal medicines are used clinically by the majority of the global population. The acceptance of these medicines for use by medical doctors requires support from preclinical data, clinical data, and clinical trial data, which this Special Issue aims to provide. Safety, efficacy, cost and environmental sustainability issues must be taken into account; for example, herbal medicines that are collected in the wild should include a discussion of how to prevent the depletion of wild sources. In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following: anti-inflammatory agents, anticancer agents, cardiovascular agents, agents for use in diabetes, antiobesity agents, pain management, and chronic pain medicines.

Dr. James David Adams
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. J is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • efficacy
  • safety
  • cost analysis
  • environmental sustainability

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 785 KiB  
Article
Antioxidant Activity of Selected Medicinal Plants Used by Traditional Herbal Practitioners to Treat Cancer in Malawi
by Friday Fosta Fred Masumbu, John Finias Kamanula, Anthony Mwakikunga, Bonface Mwamatope and David Tembo
J 2023, 6(4), 592-604; https://doi.org/10.3390/j6040039 - 20 Nov 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2774
Abstract
This study evaluated the phytochemical composition and antioxidant activity of Piliostigma thonningii (Schumach.) Milne-Redh, Psorospermum febrifugum Spach, Inula glomerata Oliv. and Hiern, Zanthoxylum chalybeum Engl. and Monotes africanus A.DC., claimed to treat cancer by Malawian traditional herbal practitioners. Ground and dried plant extracts [...] Read more.
This study evaluated the phytochemical composition and antioxidant activity of Piliostigma thonningii (Schumach.) Milne-Redh, Psorospermum febrifugum Spach, Inula glomerata Oliv. and Hiern, Zanthoxylum chalybeum Engl. and Monotes africanus A.DC., claimed to treat cancer by Malawian traditional herbal practitioners. Ground and dried plant extracts were analyzed for total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), total alkaloid content (TAC), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and 2,2-Diphenyl-1-Picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) using standard assays. The TPC, TFC, and TAC ranged from 539 ± 2.70 to 4602 ± 32 mg GAE/g DW, 6.18 ± 0.03 to 64.04 ± 0.16 mg QE/g DW and 19.25 ± 0.07 to 76.05 ± 0.36 mg CE/g DW, respectively, and the variations were significant, p < 0.05. FRAP values ranged from 82.15 ± 0.7 to 687.28 ± 0.71 mg TEAC/g DW and decreased in the following order: P. thoningii (Schumach.) Milne-Redh > P. febrifugum Spach > M. africanus A.DC > Z. chalybeum Engl > I. glomerata Oliv. and Hiern. The scavenging activity (SA50) of the extracts ranged from 0.09 ± 0.01 to 1.57 ± 0.01 μg/mL of extract with P. thonningii (Schumach.) Milne-Redh showing the lowest value. Based on the levels of phenolic compounds and their antioxidant activity, the plants in this study could be considered for use as medicinal agents and sources of natural bioactive compounds and antioxidants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Herbal Medicines: Current Advances and Clinical Prospects)
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9 pages, 282 KiB  
Article
Effect on Weight Loss of an Oral Supplement Containing Cinnamon Bark (Cinnamomum cassia) and Withania somnifera in Adult Patients with Overweight and Obesity: A Pilot Study
by Mikiko Watanabe, Alessandro Laviano, Angela Balena, Angelo Vitaterna, Emiliano Angeloni, Raffaella Toscano, Giuseppe Natoli, Carla Lubrano and Lucio Gnessi
J 2023, 6(3), 508-516; https://doi.org/10.3390/j6030033 - 2 Sep 2023
Viewed by 5559
Abstract
With the prevalence of obesity soaring and the absence of an effective and safe treatment that is low-cost and always feasible, food supplements have gained attention for their potential benefits in the absence of significant safety concerns. Cinnamomum cassia (CC) and Withania somnifera [...] Read more.
With the prevalence of obesity soaring and the absence of an effective and safe treatment that is low-cost and always feasible, food supplements have gained attention for their potential benefits in the absence of significant safety concerns. Cinnamomum cassia (CC) and Withania somnifera (WS) are plant-based supplements reported to be effective in improving metabolic health and body composition, the first mainly acting on insulin resistance and the second on energy expenditure and leptin resistance, as shown in preclinical and some clinical studies. Their combination, which is possibly synergistic given their different mechanisms of action, has never been studied. This was a double-blind placebo-controlled study. Patients with overweight or obesity were prescribed a mildly hypocaloric diet with 300 mg CC plus 150 mg WS tid for 4 weeks in a crossover design; anthropometric parameters and safety outcomes were collected. Forty patients were enrolled, and the combination CC + WS induced significant weight loss compared with placebo (−2.66% vs. −1.28%, respectively; p = 0.0002). No significant adverse events were recorded. Our study demonstrates for the first time that the tested combination is an inexpensive yet effective strategy to enhance weight loss in patients receiving a mildly hypocaloric diet. Further studies are warranted to investigate the mechanisms underlying the weight loss effect of CC/WS in human subjects, as well as to explore potential additional metabolic effects obtained with this treatment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Herbal Medicines: Current Advances and Clinical Prospects)

Review

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22 pages, 1476 KiB  
Review
Gut Microbiota-Mediated Biotransformation of Medicinal Herb-Derived Natural Products: A Narrative Review of New Frontiers in Drug Discovery
by Christine Tara Peterson
J 2024, 7(3), 351-372; https://doi.org/10.3390/j7030020 - 4 Sep 2024
Viewed by 1654
Abstract
The discovery of natural products has been pivotal in drug development, providing a vast reservoir of bioactive compounds from various biological sources. This narrative review addresses a critical research gap: the largely underexplored role of gut microbiota in the mediation and biotransformation of [...] Read more.
The discovery of natural products has been pivotal in drug development, providing a vast reservoir of bioactive compounds from various biological sources. This narrative review addresses a critical research gap: the largely underexplored role of gut microbiota in the mediation and biotransformation of medicinal herb-derived natural products for therapeutic use. By examining the interplay between gut microbiota and natural products, this review highlights the potential of microbiota-mediated biotransformation to unveil novel therapeutic agents. It delves into the mechanisms by which gut microbes modify and enhance the efficacy of natural products, with a focus on herbal medicines from Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine, known for their applications in treating metabolic and inflammatory diseases. The review also discusses recent advances in microbiota-derived natural product research, including innovative methodologies such as culturomics, metagenomics, and metabolomics. By exploring the intricate interactions between gut microorganisms and their substrates, this review uncovers new strategies for leveraging gut microbiota-mediated processes in the development of groundbreaking therapeutics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Herbal Medicines: Current Advances and Clinical Prospects)
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