Metabolic syndrome is a disorder of energy utilization and storage, diagnosed by a cooccurrence of abdominal central obesity, elevated blood pressure, elevated fasting plasma glucose, and high serum triglycerides. The principal symptom of metabolic syndrome is central obesity, overweight with adipose tissue accumulation. Other signs of metabolic syndrome include high blood pressure, decreased fasting serum HDL cholesterol, elevated fasting serum triglyceride level, impaired fasting glucose, insulin resistance, or prediabetes. Associated conditions include hyperuricemia, fatty liver, especially in concurrent obesity, progressing to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and polycystic ovarian syndrome in women.

There is an increasing interest and popularity of herbal medicine worldwide, which is accompanied by increasing concerns about its effectiveness and potential toxicity. Several ingredients, such as polyphenolic compounds berberine, flavonoids, and curcumin, have been studied extensively by using various animal models. The targeting of mechanism by these agents remains primary focus for several diseases including diabetes, obesity, NAFLD, cardiovascular, respiratory, neurodegenerative, and gastrointestinal diseases, and cancer. The experimental evidence especially demonstrating the lipid-lowering effect of herbal medicine and ingredients in cell culture and animal models is needed, and the strengths, shortcomings of experimental designs, and clinical applicability in these studies are required.

Investigators are invited to submit original research as well as review articles which explore pharmacological and molecular mechanism of herbal medicines or derived phytochemicals and natural products targeting specific mechanism in the management of metabolic syndrome.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Elucidation of mechanism of phytochemicals, herbal medicines, and natural products based on pharmacological challenge of agonist or antagonist or receptor expression studies
• Bioanalytical studies to reveal herbal medicines as mechanism modulators
• Biochip and omics study of herbal medicines and natural products
• Synergistic or additive actions of herbal medicines, phytochemicals, or natural products targeting mechanism
• Development of multifunctional and polypharmacological phytochemicals, herbal medicines, and natural products targeting mechanism
• Development of design, receptor targeting, and acupuncture