Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue follows the publication of the first edition on “Biologically Active Substances in Cardiovascular and Neurological Disease”, which presented 13 high-quality papers.

The incidence and prevalence of chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, have been increasing throughout the world. This trend coincides with changes in lifestyle and chronic exposure to risk factors including environmental pollutants. Interestingly, there has been increasing attention regarding a connection between the heart and the brain, and current evidence supports an association between cardiovascular (heart diseases, diabetes, stroke, and vascular diseases) and neurological diseases (neurovascular and neurodegenerative diseases).

The number of studies on naturally occurring bioactive substances has risen exponentially in recent decades, especially regarding their protective effects against oxidant stress or inflammatory signalling, which are the common underlying mechanisms for various chronic diseases, including cardiovascular and neurological diseases. The characterisation of the specific modes of action of bioactive substances in targeting certain pathological processes in specific diseases has also received much attention. Derivatisation or pharmaceutical modification of the original natural compounds are important approaches to increase the bioactivity of naturally occurring substances. Bioactive substances in foods, such as nutraceuticals, can also be promising agents to study, considering their role in the maintenance of homeostasis in health.

This Special Issue will cover a selection of research papers and reviews that expand knowledge about the potential of naturally occurring bioactive compounds in health and chronic diseases, specifically focusing on the cardiovascular and neurological diseases. We also welcome studies on the elucidation of bioactive mechanisms of natural products against these diseases, enhancement of bioactivity via pharmaceutical formulation or derivatisation of known bioactive substances, as well as on the identification of novel bioactive compounds.

Prof. Dr. Ok-Nam Bae
Prof. Dr. Arshad Majid
Prof. Dr. G. K. Rajanikant
Guest Editors

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• chronic diseases
• natural products
• bioactive substances
• nutraceuticals
• drug discovery
• derivatives of natural substances
• pharmaceutical formulation of bioactive substances