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Pharmaceutics
Special Issues
Natural Product Pharmaceuticals
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Special Issue "Natural Product Pharmaceuticals"

A special issue of Pharmaceutics (ISSN 1999-4923). This special issue belongs to the section "Biopharmaceutics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2023 | Viewed by 1394

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Maria Rosaria Lauro

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Fisciano, SA, Italy
Interests: natural compounds; herbal extract; polyphenols; antioxidants; microencapsulation; cyclodextrins; poorly soluble and low bioavailable drugs
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plants are the natural product sources preferred by patients to treat and prevent diseases and illnesses. This is due to the minor side effects, and their greater affordability compared with that of conventional medicine. The scientific community, in the last twenty years, has strongly turned its attention towards this great inexhaustible source of drugs. The present Special Issue on "Natural Product Pharmaceuticals" invites scientists to submit papers focused on natural herbal remedies, innovative articles, and reviews about natural medicines, from drug discovery to drug delivery and beyond. News or insights into the re-use of wastes and byproducts of the food industry with potential health benefits are also welcome.

Dr. Maria Rosaria Lauro
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. Pharmaceutics 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.

Keywords

  • herbal extracts
  • natural compounds
  • extraction methods
  • chemical–physical and technological studies
  • pre-formulation and formulation studies
  • pharmacokinetics and pharmacological studies
  • in vitro and in vivo biological activities

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

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Article
Pistacia vera Extract Potentiates the Effect of Melatonin on Human Melatonin MT1 and MT2 Receptors with Functional Selectivity
by
Nedjma Labani
,
Florence Gbahou
,
Marc Noblet
,
Bernard Masri
,
Olivier Broussaud
,
Jianfeng Liu
and
Ralf Jockers
Pharmaceutics 2023, 15(7), 1845; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics15071845 - 28 Jun 2023
Viewed by 899
Abstract
Melatonin is a tryptophan derivative synthesized in plants and animals. In humans, melatonin acts on melatonin MT1 and MT2 receptors belonging to the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) family. Synthetic melatonin receptor agonists are prescribed for insomnia and depressive and circadian-related disorders. [...] Read more.
Melatonin is a tryptophan derivative synthesized in plants and animals. In humans, melatonin acts on melatonin MT1 and MT2 receptors belonging to the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) family. Synthetic melatonin receptor agonists are prescribed for insomnia and depressive and circadian-related disorders. Here, we tested 25 commercial plant extracts, reported to have beneficial properties in sleep disorders and anxiety, using cellular assays (2─[125I]iodomelatonin binding, cAMP inhibition, ERK1/2 activation and β-arrestin2 recruitment) in mock-transfected and HEK293 cells expressing MT1 or MT2. Various melatonin receptor-dependent and -independent effects were observed. Extract 18 (Ex18) from Pistacia vera dried fruits stood out with very potent effects in melatonin receptor expressing cells. The high content of endogenous melatonin in Ex18 (5.28 ± 0.46 mg/g extract) is consistent with this observation. Ex18 contains an additional active principle that potentiates the effect of melatonin on Gi protein-dependent pathways but not on β-arrestin2 recruitment. Further active principles potentiating exogenous melatonin were detected in several extracts. In conclusion, we identified plant extracts with various effects in GPCR-based binding and signalling assays and identified high melatonin levels and a melatonin-potentiating activity in Pistacia vera dried fruit extracts that might be of therapeutic potential. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Product Pharmaceuticals)
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