Editorial for the special issue on plant polyphenols in the immune and inflammatory responses

Authors: Cao, Heping

Submitted to: Biomolecules
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/9/2023
Publication Date: 5/11/2023
Citation: Cao, H. 2023. Editorial for the special issue on plant polyphenols in the immune and inflammatory responses. Biomolecules. 13(5): Article 814. https://doi.org/10.3390/biom13050814.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/biom13050814

Interpretive Summary: N/A

Technical Abstract: Inflammation and associated immune diseases have placed a heavy burden on the health care system. Drug treatment for reducing inflammation and related diseases has not been satisfactory. Complementary and alternative approaches need to be evaluated. Plant extracts have historically been used as alternative medicines for the prevention, alleviation, and cure of various diseases. The mechanisms of how bioactive plant extracts work are poorly understood due in part to the lack of knowledge in the structures of bioactive components in most of the extracts. Plant polyphenols are major bioactive compounds in plant extracts. They are produced from the plant flavonoid biosynthetic pathway and used naturally for plant defenses against predators. Plant polyphenols are present in most diet and beneficial to human health. They regulate mammalian gene expression in numerous studies. Anti-inflammatory activities of plant polyphenols are proposed to play an important role in the mediation of various health conditions by these alternative therapies; however, the anti-inflammatory mechanisms are not completely understood. This Special Issue aimed to highlight plant polyphenols in the immune and inflammatory response. Topics included plant polyphenol extraction, identification, bioactivity, structure-function relationship, molecular mechanisms at DNA, RNA, protein and metabolic levels.