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Pharmaceuticals
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The 20th Anniversary of Pharmaceuticals—Advances in Natural Products
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The 20th Anniversary of Pharmaceuticals—Advances in Natural Products

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2024 | Viewed by 2408

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Daniela De Vita

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Guest Editor
Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
Interests: medicinal plants; alkaloids; phytochemistry; HPLC; LC-MS; antiviral agents; antifungal agents; anticancer agents; Alzheimer’s disease; cholinesterases
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Marianna Carbone

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Guest Editor
National Research Council (CNR) - Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry (ICB), Pozzuoli, Italy
Interests: marine natural compounds; marine ecology; drug discovery; organic chemistry; NMR
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Historically, natural products (NPs) have been used as remedies for many diseases and illnesses. Even today, with their high structural, physicochemical diversity and health benefits, NPs are suitable for use not only as therapeutic agents but also as cosmetics and food. This Special Issue aims to discuss all the new aspects related to NPs with pharmaceutical applications.

The topics of the Special Issue include but are not limited to in vitro and in vivo evaluation of the biological activities, bioavailability, investigation of the mechanisms of action and pharmaceutical formulations of characterized herbal extracts, pure isolated compounds and/or semisynthetic derivatives. Authors are invited to submit original research articles, reviews, and short communications exploring the recent advances in this field.

Dr. Daniela De Vita
Dr. Marianna Carbone
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.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 15454 KiB  
Article
Enhancing Therapeutic Efficacy of Donepezil, an Alzheimer’s Disease Drug, by Diplazium esculentum (Retz.) Sw. and Its Phytochemicals
by Woorawee Inthachat, Boonrat Chantong, Pornsiri Pitchakarn, Chawalit Takoon, Jirarat Karinchai, Uthaiwan Suttisansanee and Piya Temviriyanukul
Pharmaceuticals 2024, 17(3), 341; https://doi.org/10.3390/ph17030341 - 06 Mar 2024
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Abstract
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia and a significant concern to global public health due to the prevalence of aging populations. Donepezil is one of only a few medications approved for use as an anti-AD agent but all have [...] Read more.
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia and a significant concern to global public health due to the prevalence of aging populations. Donepezil is one of only a few medications approved for use as an anti-AD agent but all have adverse side effects. Reducing the dosage of AD drugs with plant extracts (phytotherapy) while maintaining efficacy is one strategy to minimize adverse side effects. We previously reported the anti-AD properties of an edible fern, Diplazium esculentum (Retz.) Sw. (DE), which inhibited key enzymes involved in AD pathogenesis including acetylcholinesterase (AChE), butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), and β-secretase 1 (BACE-1). This study aimed to determine whether DE exhibited a synergistic effect with donepezil. The enzyme inhibitory assay showed that DE extract and its bioactive compounds, kaempferol, and quercetin, slightly impeded AChE inhibition with donepezil, while DE extract and quercetin showed synergistic or additive effects with donepezil against BChE and BACE-1, respectively. DE extract combined with donepezil also improved eye phenotypes in a Drosophila model of AD by preventing ommatidia atrophia and bristle breakages. Furthermore, the DE extract exhibited no genotoxic activities, as determined by the Ames test. Our data revealed that DE extract showed promise when combined with donepezil during AD treatment by targeting BChE and BACE-1. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The 20th Anniversary of Pharmaceuticals—Advances in Natural Products)
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16 pages, 712 KiB  
Article
Anti-Coccal Activity and Composition of the Essential Oils and Methanolic Extracts Obtained from Brewing Quality Humulus lupulus L. Hop Pellets
by Bartłomiej Piasecki, Anna Biernasiuk and Agnieszka Ludwiczuk
Pharmaceuticals 2023, 16(8), 1098; https://doi.org/10.3390/ph16081098 - 03 Aug 2023
Viewed by 867
Abstract
This study examined the chemical composition and anti-coccal properties of essential oils and methanolic extracts of six different Humulus lupulus L. varieties from Poland: Iunga, Marynka, Sybilla, Magnum, Tradition and Chinook. The activity of an α-acid-enriched fraction of methanolic extracts was also studied. [...] Read more.
This study examined the chemical composition and anti-coccal properties of essential oils and methanolic extracts of six different Humulus lupulus L. varieties from Poland: Iunga, Marynka, Sybilla, Magnum, Tradition and Chinook. The activity of an α-acid-enriched fraction of methanolic extracts was also studied. The chemical composition of essential oils and extracts was determined by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC/MS) techniques. The compounds characteristic to H. lupulus extracts include xanthohumol, α-acids, β-acids, and prenylated flavonoids. Essential oil compositions showed a high prevalence of monoterpene hydrocarbon, myrcene and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, α-humulene and β-caryophyllene. The antimicrobial activity was investigated against eight human cocci pathogenic strains: Staphylococcus aureus MRSA (ATCC 43300), S. aureus MRSA (29213), S. aureus MSSA (ATCC 29213), S. epidermidis (ATCC 12228), Enterococcus faecalis (ATCC 29212), E. faecalis VRE (ATCC 51299), E. faecium (ATCC 19434) and Micrococcus luteus (ATCC 10240). The lowest minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) were obtained for extracts and essential oils from Iunga hop samples. Extracts were significantly more active than essential oils. The most susceptible strain to both essential oils and extracts was M. luteus, whilst the least susceptible was E. faecium. The antimicrobial activity correlated with a high concentration of xanthohumol of active extracts rather than with the content of α-acids. Xanthohumol showed considerable activity against MRSA with an MIC value of 3.9 µg/mL. The activity of the α-acid-enriched fraction was mediocre compared to the results of all extracts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The 20th Anniversary of Pharmaceuticals—Advances in Natural Products)
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