It is estimated that there are 140,000 fungal species (also called higher fungi), of these, around 2000 species are edible, and about 200 have traditionally been gathered for food or for medicinal and other preparations. Higher fungi are well recognized for their medicinal properties and have been used in traditional medicine for millennia. The medicinal effects attributed to fungi, based mainly on uncharacterized substances or extracts, include depression management, Cerebrovascular disease management, Alzheimer’s disease management, anti-anxiety, immunomodulatory, antioxidant, radical scavenging, anti-inflammatory, antihyperlipidemic or antihypercholesterolemic, hepatoprotective and antidiabetic effects.

We invite investigators to contribute original research articles as well as review articles that will promote the continuing efforts to further evaluate the effects and the potential usefulness of fungi, including their active compounds. We are particularly interested in articles clarifying the novel active compounds for age-related disease by using both in vitro and in vivo tests in preclinical studies. Potential topics include, but not limited to:

• Systematic review on the effects and potential usefulness of fungi
• Basic theories and experimental research of fungi for age-related disease
• Development and testing of novel and effective compounds or composition derived from fungi for age-related disease
• Investigation of mechanisms of action of fungi to prevent age-related disease in cellular or animal models
• Toxicological studies and safety evaluation of fungi used for age-related disease treatment
• Clinical investigations and observations of fungi used for age-related disease treatment

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal’s Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/submit/journals/ecam/fungi/ according to the following timetable: