Natural and Synthetic Molecules for Tissue Protection

Dear Colleagues, Tissue protection represents a challenge both in health and in disease. In Western countries, China, Russia, and other emerging countries (e.g., India), new lifestyles, the use of high technological facilities, environmental pollution, electromagnetic waves, and radioactivity lead to a great range of tissue and organ damage. The populations living in these contexts are aware of this high risk for their health and try to face it with appropriate lifestyle and protective molecules. These protective substances include different families of products trying through a variety of approaches to restore the pre-insult state of tissues. These molecules include antioxidants, immune-reinforcing agents, vitamins, and many other products with a tissue-specific protective activity (e.g., neuronal, endothelial, and cardiovascular). Natural compounds, their derivatives, and purely synthetic ones belong to a variegated class of tissue protectants. The appropriate choice of these molecules is crucial in tissue and organ preservation. For this reason, several preclinical and clinical studies are available in the literature, which evaluate both protective mechanisms and protectant molecules. Deep comprehension of the insult that causes tissue damage could be essential to choosing the suitable disease-modifying compound for recovering health status. The analysis of different tissue-protective strategies, based on the knowledge of the damage mechanisms, has led to the development of several protective compounds. Nervous tissue is among the most sensitive because any kind of insult is irreversible. Therefore, its protection is crucial to ensure correct function. Many laboratories worldwide are working on new agents to reduce the damage to the nervous system, protecting neuronal microenvironment. Other molecules have been used to protect the renal, cardiovascular, and gastro-enteric system. This Special Issue will publish research articles or reviews covering all kinds of natural and synthetic compounds with protective activity in different tissues. Manuscripts that highlight different molecules with a possible preventive activity against damage in healthy tissue are also welcome. Dr. Seyed Khosrow Tayebati Guest Editor