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Drug Discovery and Development Focusing on Natural Products
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Drug Discovery and Development Focusing on Natural Products

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Pharmacology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2025 | Viewed by 1058

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Chung-Hsin Wu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, 88, Ting-Chou Road, Section 4, Taipei 11677, Taiwan
Interests: Chinese herbal medicine; Alzheimer disease; neuroscience; coronavirus infections; drug discovery and development
Prof. Dr. Szu-Chuan Shen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Graduate Program of Nutrition Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei 11677, Taiwan
Interests: natural products; herbs; bioactivities; therapeutics; health food; diabetes; non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Natural products known as secondary metabolites are compounds produced by living organisms. Unlike primary metabolites such as nucleotides, amino acids, carbohydrates, and lipids that are essential for growth, secondary metabolites are not necessary for basic survival. Instead, they play roles related to defense when organisms are under stress. Many herbal medicines and microbial secondary metabolites have the potential for biological activity, making them valuable natural resources. Throughout history, natural products and their structural analogs have significantly contributed to drug therapies, particularly in areas such as cancer, infectious diseases, cardiovascular conditions, and metabolic syndromes. However, natural products also present new opportunities for drug discovery and development. Recent advancements in techniques and scientific understanding, including improved analytical tools, genome mining, engineering strategies, and microbial cultivation, address challenges and open up novel avenues. As a result, interest in using natural products as lead compounds for drug development is resurging, especially in the context of combating antibiotic resistance. The current open access Special Issue will compile original research and review articles focusing on natural products in drug discovery and development. It emphasizes new findings, methods, and technological advancements in this field. Notably, this Special Issue will provide open access to important works in areas such as herbal medicine and gut microbiota research, enhancing our understanding of natural products and potentially leading to the discovery and development of new drugs.

Dr. Chung-Hsin Wu
Prof. Dr. Szu-Chuan Shen
Guest Editors

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. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

  • natural products
  • drug R&D
  • herbal medicine
  • gut microbiota
  • mechanism of action
  • therapeutic targets

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

19 pages, 5218 KiB  
Article
Chinese Herbal Medicines as Natural Alternative Products to Antibiotics in Weaned Piglets through Intestinal Microbiota Regulation
by Che-Hsuan Wang, Kou-Toung Chung, Li-Yu Su, Wan-Jhen Wu, Pei-Hwa Wang, Ming-Chung Lee, Szu-Chuan Shen and Chung-Hsin Wu
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(20), 11034; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms252011034 - 14 Oct 2024
Viewed by 783
Abstract
During the growth process of weaned piglets, digestive problems such as gastrointestinal disorders and diarrhea are common. Farmers usually use antibiotics to help piglets grow smoothly. However, the overuse of antibiotics can lead to antibiotic resistance issues. Therefore, this study chose to use [...] Read more.
During the growth process of weaned piglets, digestive problems such as gastrointestinal disorders and diarrhea are common. Farmers usually use antibiotics to help piglets grow smoothly. However, the overuse of antibiotics can lead to antibiotic resistance issues. Therefore, this study chose to use plant extracts as feed additives to explore their potential as alternatives to antibiotics. Additionally, Tilmicosin was used as the antibiotic because it is widely used in treating respiratory infections in piglets. Since traditional Chinese medicine often uses natural products, we selected Guizhi Li-Zhong (GLZ) extract as an alternative to antibiotics. The experiment involved 126 piglets, each 4 weeks old, which were randomly assigned to one of four groups: the sham group (basal diet without supplements, 10.3 ± 0.4 kg, n = 31), the low-dose GLZ group (basal diet with 0.05% GLZ, 10.9 ± 0.4 kg, n = 32), the regular-dose GLZ group (basal diet with 0.2% GLZ, 10.6 ± 0.4 kg, n = 32), and the regular-dose Tilmicosin antibiotic group (basal diet with 0.2% Tilmicosin, 10.2 ± 0.3 kg, n = 31). We recorded and compared the survival rate, growth rate, feed conversion ratio, and diarrhea incidence among four groups of weaned piglets from the 4th to the 10th weeks of age. Then, we examined the oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis in small intestine tissue (jejunum and ileum) through immunohistochemistry and Western blot and compared the gut microbiota in large intestine tissue (colon and rectum) through a next-generation sequencing (NGS) analysis. Our results showed that weaned piglets supplemented with 0.05% and 0.2% GLZ had better survival rates, growth rates (p < 0.01), and feed conversion ratios (p < 0.01) compared to those receiving sham treatment. Even weaned piglets supplemented with 0.2% GLZ performed better than those supplemented with 0.2% Tilmicosin antibiotics (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the incidence of diarrhea and small intestine injury (indicated by oxidative stress-, inflammation-, and apoptosis-related proteins) in piglets supplemented with 0.05% and 0.2% GLZ was lower than in piglets receiving sham treatment (p < 0.05). Even piglets supplemented with 0.2% GLZ had less injury than those supplemented with 0.2% Tilmicosin antibiotics (p < 0.05). The NGS results further showed that GLZ treatment significantly improved beneficial bacteria in weaned piglets (p < 0.05), while antibiotic treatment reduced beneficial bacteria (p < 0.05). In summary, we recommend adding GLZ to the feed as an alternative to antibiotics. This not only effectively reduces intestinal damage but also improves the gut microbiota, thereby promoting the growth of weaning piglets. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drug Discovery and Development Focusing on Natural Products)
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