Dear Colleagues,

Due to globalization and with the progressive changes towards modern lifestyles, the incidence of chronic diseases has increased exponentially, including that of those related to metabolism, neurology, the cardiovascular system, autoimmunity and even cancer. Linked to a high burden on health systems, more alarmingly, is the fact that the incidence of such pathologies is expected to increase even further. Thus, it is extremely important to ensure adequate diagnosis and treatment, but no less important is ensuring the prevention of their onset. Overall, increasing evidence points to the existence of two triggering factors for these pathologies—oxidative stress and inflammation—despite them playing important roles in metabolism and immune function at balanced levels. However, one can observe that, in reality, individuals are always under intense stress, exposed to varying levels of pollution, and leading less-than-ideal daily lifestyles, among other aspects, without neglecting other risk factors, such as tobacco and alcohol consumption, despite the factors described above being, by themselves, enough to raise the propensity for an individual to develop a chronic disease.

Looking at the therapeutic point of view, there are more and more studies aimed at the development and discovery of future promising molecules with pharmacological potential. In this line, medicinal plants and foods have been used since ancient times to prevent and treat various conditions, in addition to being used to optimize general health and wellbeing. It should be noted that in this aspect, about two thirds of the drugs currently available are derived from the previous isolation of molecules from plants or other naturally occurring products. Therefore, the inexhaustibility of the molecules offered by Mother Nature will be our best resource for promoting and maintaining health and preventing and even treating the onset of a plethora of diseases. On the other hand, there has been growing interest from consumers in health-promoting and disease-preventing foods, and thus, the demand for nutraceuticals and functional foods has markedly increased. In general, and despite other effects, at the molecular level, such naturally occurring bioactives have two bioactive effects that are increasingly considered the basis for the prevention and treatment of multiple diseases: antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. In fact, scientific data published to date have underlined that naturally occurring bioactives with promising therapeutic potential always have excellent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory abilities. However, for many of them, and even for the extracts from which they are isolated, there is still a need for in-depth molecular studies that will allow a clear assessment of their modes of action, bioavailability, efficacy and safety profiles, even when combined with conventional drugs with the intent of enhancing their therapeutic effects and then optimizing therapy, ultimately leading to a reduction in the risk of adverse effects and the lengths of therapeutic regimens. Not least, the molecular mechanisms through which oxidative stress and hyperinflammation trigger the onset of certain chronic diseases are still not clearly understood.

Therefore, the present Special Issue aims to captivate the attention of researchers worldwide dedicated to the impact of oxidative stress and hyperinflammation on the onset of chronic disorders, in addition to those focused on the use of plant-food-derived biomolecules for targeting chronic disease applications, whether they are still derived by primary isolation from the mother extracts or even already produced using synthetic molecules, also addressing their safety profiles, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, along new strategies for improving the overall bioavailability and bioefficacy of certain promising molecules that present low bioavailability as a result of chemical instability. This Special Issue encourages the submission of original articles, review articles, critical reviews, mini-reviews, comments, perspectives and even short communications. We look forward to receiving your contributions and welcome you to join us in this effort.

Prof. Dr. Natália Cruz-Martins
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. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. 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.

• Chronic diseases
• Inflammation
• Oxidative stress
• Metabolic disturbances
• Neurodegenerative diseases
• Cardiovascular conditions
• Natural product chemistry
• Biologically active molecules
• Mechanisms of action
• Preclinical studies
• Bioavailability and bioefficacy
• Nanotechnology