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Special Issue "Bioactive Compounds from Plants and Foods with Pharmaceutical Interest 2023"

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A special issue of Pharmaceuticals (ISSN 1424-8247). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Products".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2023 | Viewed by 2795

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Dear Colleagues,

Bioactive compounds from plants, foods or other natural sources represent a particularly important tool for improving health or preventing/treating certain diseases. There is currently significant interest in the study of bioactive compounds, extracts, and new ingredients from natural sources, in order to produce pharmaceuticals, functional foods, nutraceuticals, botanicals, and dietary supplements.

Certain non-nutritive bioactive compounds present in foods and plants, known as phytochemicals (polyphenols, terpenes, alkaloids), offer a wide chemical diversity responsible for a range of pharmacological and biological properties; additionally, other bioactive compounds can be macro- or micronutrients with additional health benefits beyond their nutritional properties (omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, dietary fiber, vitamins, amino acids, etc.).

This Special Issue on “Bioactive Compounds from Plants and Foods with Pharmaceutical Interest” comprises a collection of original research and review articles about novel advances in the development and application of bioactive compounds and extracts from natural matrices. Topics include but are not limited to:

The bioactivity of functional foods and medicinal plants for the development of dietary supplements, botanicals, medicines, or cosmetics;
The extraction and identification of bioactive compounds from foods, plants, or natural sources with pharmacological applications;
Antioxidants, polyphenols, and their uses in oxidative stress conditions;
Essential oils and aromatic plants with pharmaceutical, cosmeceutical, or agrochemical interest.

Dr. Víctor López
Prof. Dr. Filippo Maggi
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. Pharmaceuticals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2900 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.

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Research

Open AccessArticle

Cannabidiol and Minor Phytocannabinoids: A Preliminary Study to Assess Their Anti-Melanoma, Anti-Melanogenic, and Anti-Tyrosinase Properties

Katarzyna Gaweł-Bęben

Karolina Czech

and

Simon Vlad Luca

Pharmaceuticals 2023, 16(5), 648; https://doi.org/10.3390/ph16050648 - 26 Apr 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1280

Abstract

Currently, there is an increased interest from both scientists and consumers in the application of cannabis/hemp/phytocannabinoids in skin-related disorders. However, most previous investigations assessed the pharmacological properties of hemp extracts, cannabidiol (CBD), or tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), with very few studies focusing on minor phytocannabinoids from hemp. In this context, the current work explored the in vitro anti-melanoma, anti-melanogenic, and anti-tyrosinase effects of cannabidiol (CBD) and three minor phytocannabinoids, namely cannabigerol (CBG), cannabinol (CBN), and cannabichromene (CBC). Among the tested human malignant melanoma cells (A375, SH4, and G361), only A375 cells were highly susceptible to the 48 h treatment with the four phytocannabinoids (IC₅₀ values between 12.02 and 25.13 μg/mL). When melanogenesis was induced in murine melanoma B16F10 cells by α-melanocyte stimulating hormone (αMSH), CBD, CBG, and CBN significantly decreased the extracellular (29.76–45.14% of αMSH+ cells) and intracellular (60.59–67.87% of αMSH+ cells) melanin content at 5 μg/mL. Lastly, CBN (50–200 μg/mL) inhibited both mushroom and murine tyrosinase, whereas CBG (50–200 μg/mL) and CBC (100–200 μg/mL) down-regulated only the mushroom tyrosinase activity; in contrast, CBD was practically inactive. The current data show that tyrosinase inhibition might not be responsible for reducing the melanin biosynthesis in α-MSH-treated B16F10 cells. By evaluating for the first time the preliminary anti-melanoma, anti-melanogenic, and anti-tyrosinase properties of CBN and CBC and confirming similar effects for CBD and CBG, this study can expand the utilization of CBD and, in particular, of minor phytocannabinoids to novel cosmeceutical products for skin care. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioactive Compounds from Plants and Foods with Pharmaceutical Interest 2023)

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Open AccessArticle

Spiroleiferthione A and Oleiferthione A: Two Unusual Isothiocyanate-Derived Thioketone Alkaloids from Moringa oleifera Lam. Seeds

and

Pharmaceuticals 2023, 16(3), 452; https://doi.org/10.3390/ph16030452 - 16 Mar 2023

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Abstract

Spiroleiferthione A (1), with a 2-thiohydantoin a heterocyclic spiro skeleton, and oleiferthione A (2), an imidazole-2-thione derivative, were isolated from the aqueous extract of Moringa oleifera Lam. seeds. The unprecedented structures of 1 and 2 were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic data, X-ray diffraction, and gauge-independent atomic orbital (GIAO) NMR calculation, as well as electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculation. The structures of 1 and 2 were determined to be (5R,7R,8S)-8-hydroxy-3-(4′-hydroxybenzyl)-7-methyl-2-thioxo-6-oxa-1, 3-diazaspiro [4.4] nonan-4-one, and 1-(4′-hydroxybenzyl)-4,5-dimethyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-imidazole-2-thione, respectively. Biosynthetic pathways for 1 and 2 have been proposed. Compounds 1 and 2 are considered to have originated from isothiocyanate and then undergone a series of oxidation and cyclization reactions to form 1 and 2. Compounds 1 and 2 demonstrated weak inhibition rates of NO production, 42.81 ± 1.56% and 33.53 ± 2.34%, respectively, at a concentration of 50 μM. Additionally, Spiroleiferthione A demonstrated moderate inhibitory activity against high glucose-induced human renal mesangial cell proliferation in a dosage-dependent manner. A wider range of biological activities, and the diabetic nephropathy protective activity of Compound 1 in vivo and its mechanism of action, need further investigation after the sufficient enrichment of Compound 1 or total synthesis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioactive Compounds from Plants and Foods with Pharmaceutical Interest 2023)

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Special Issue "Bioactive Compounds from Plants and Foods with Pharmaceutical Interest 2023"

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