Plant-and Fungi-Derived Metabolites and Extracts Targeting Aging and Cellular Senescence: From Traditional Use to Mechanistic Evidence

Traditional medicinal plants have long been used to address conditions associated with aging, frailty, chronic inflammation, functional decline, and age-related disease. These traditional uses provide an important starting point for the evidence-based evaluation of botanical medicines and their bioactive constituents. However, the pharmacological basis, safety, composition, and clinical relevance of many such preparations remain insufficiently characterized.This Research Topic aims to bring together ethnopharmacological, pharmacological, and translational research on traditional medicinal plants and preparations used for healthy aging and age-related disorders. We welcome studies that clearly connect the traditional use of a medicine with its experimentally demonstrated pharmacological effects, including effects on inflammation, oxidative stress, tissue function, metabolic regulation, immune responses, and age-associated disease processes. Studies may also investigate senescence-related outcomes, such as the accumulation of senescent cells, SASP modulation, or changes in senescence-associated functions, when these outcomes are used to support the pharmacological interpretation of the traditional medicine. Such studies should remain grounded in the traditional context and should not be presented as stand-alone molecular biology, cell-signaling, or drug-development studies.Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:Traditional medicinal plants, fungi, and preparations used for healthy aging, frailty, chronic inflammation, and age-related disordersPharmacological studies of traditional medicines in osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, metabolic disease, pulmonary disorders, neurodegeneration, cancer, and other age-related conditionsNatural products that regulate inflammation, oxidative stress, immune function, tissue repair, metabolic homeostasis, or age-associated functional declineTraditional medicinal preparations and their potential effects on senescence-related processes, including senescent cell accumulation, SASP-related inflammation, and tissue dysfunctionIn vivo and clinically relevant studies evaluating the efficacy, safety, pharmacokinetics, bioavailability, and therapeutic relevance of traditional medicinesStudies addressing the interface between food and medicine, medicinal plants, nutrition, and healthy agingChemical and botanical characterization, metabolomics, quality control, and standardization of traditional medicinal preparationsReviews and systematic reviews that critically evaluate the traditional use, pharmacology, safety, and evidence-based application of medicinal plants in aging and age-related diseaseSubmissions may include Original Research, Reviews, Mini Reviews, and Systematic Reviews. All manuscripts should provide a clear explanation of the traditional use of the investigated medicine and a credible link between that use and the pharmacological question being addressed. Studies using plant extracts or traditional preparations should report appropriate botanical authentication, chemical composition, extraction and processing procedures, quality-control measures, and scientifically justified doses or concentrations. For studies specifically claiming senescence-related, senolytic, or senomorphic activity, appropriate validated models and relevant senescent and non-senescent controls should be included.Please note:Contributions involving plants, fungi, or other organisms used traditionally as medicines must adhere to the Four Pillars of Best Practice in Ethnopharmacology and the ConPhyMP statement. Manuscripts must include detailed descriptions of the biological material, taxonomic or biological authentication, chemical characterization, extraction methods, and processing procedures; submissions lacking these details may be desk-rejected. The full best-practice guidance is available at https://ga-online.org/best-practice. Authors are encouraged to self-assess their manuscripts using the ConPhyMP tool before submission.Studies involving animal experiments must comply with relevant institutional and national ethical guidelines and report adherence to the 3Rs principles (Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement). Studies involving human subjects must include institutional ethics approval and informed-consent statements where applicable.The following submissions fall outside the scope of this Research Topic: purely in silico/computational studies without experimental or pharmacological validation; studies reporting only chemical antioxidant assays such as DPPH or ABTS without relevant pharmacological or functional follow-up; studies describing only general anti-aging claims without a clearly defined pharmacological outcome; studies lacking a credible traditional-use context or adequate biological and chemical characterization; standalone molecular biology, cell-signaling, or drug-development studies without a clear connection to traditional medicine and its pharmacological effects; network pharmacology studies without experimental validation; and bibliometric or scientometric analyses. Topic editors: Amit Pal, Kok Yong Chin, Baofei Yan Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/86548/plant-and-fungi-derived-metabolites-and-extracts-targeting-aging-and-cellular-senescence-from-traditional-use-to-mechanistic-evidence