Diabetes mellitus (DM) underscores a rising epidemic orchestrating critical socio-economic burden on countries globally. Different treatment options for the management of DM are evolving rapidly because the usual methods of treatment have not completely tackled the primary causes of the disease and are laden with critical adverse effects. Thus, this narrative review explores different treatment regimens in DM management and the associated challenges. A literature search for published articles on recent advances in DM management was completed with search engines including Web of Science, Pubmed/Medline, Scopus, using keywords such as DM, management of DM, and gene therapy. Our findings indicate that substantial progress has been made in DM management with promising results using different treatment regimens, including nanotechnology, gene therapy, stem cell, medical nutrition therapy, and lifestyle modification. However, a lot of challenges have been encountered using these techniques, including their optimization to ensure optimal glycemic, lipid, and blood pressure modulation to minimize complications, improvement of patients’ compliance to lifestyle and pharmacologic interventions, safety, ethical issues, as well as an effective delivery system among others. In conclusion, lifestyle management alongside pharmacological approaches and the optimization of these techniques is critical for an effective and safe clinical treatment plan.

The global rise of antibiotic resistance (AR) presents a critical threat to public health, prompting the search for innovative antimicrobial strategies. Quorum sensing (QS), a bacterial communication system that governs virulence, biofilm formation, and resistance, has emerged as a compelling non-lethal therapeutic target. This review explores the potential of natural product-based quorum sensing inhibitors (QSIs) derived from plants, microbes, and marine organisms. These compounds disrupt QS pathways through various mechanisms, including inhibition of signal synthesis, receptor antagonism, enzymatic degradation of signaling molecules, and suppression of QS-regulated gene expression. Particular emphasis is placed on the molecular targets and synergistic potential of natural QSIs when combined with conventional antibiotics to enhance efficacy and curb resistance development. This narrative review explores the diverse sources of natural QSIs, including plant-derived phytochemicals, microbial secondary metabolites, and marine bioactive compounds. In this study, a thorough literature search was conducted using databases such as PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Studies selected were those published between 2013 and 2025 in peer-reviewed journals. The manuscript also examines translational challenges such as poor bioavailability, bacterial adaptability, and regulatory barriers, alongside innovative strategies including nanoparticle-based delivery and combination therapies. Finally, clinical and industrial applications of QSIs are discussed, reinforcing their promise as sustainable tools for combating resistant infections and biofilm-associated diseases. This review underscores QS inhibition as a transformative approach in the ongoing battle against antibiotic resistance.

Lassa fever (LF) is a rodent-borne disease that threatens human health in the sub-region of West Africa where the zoonotic host of Lassa virus (LASV) is predominant. Currently, treatment options for LF are limited and since no preventive vaccine is approved for its infectivity, there is a high mortality rate in endemic areas. This narrative review explores the transmission, pathogenicity of LASV, advances, and challenges of different treatment options. Our findings indicate that genetic diversity among the different strains of LASV and their ability to circumvent the immune system poses a critical challenge to the development of LASV vaccines/therapeutics. Thus, understanding the biochemistry, physiology and genetic polymorphism of LASV, mechanism of evading host immunity are essential for development of effective LASV vaccines/therapeutics to combat this lethal viral disease. The LASV nucleoprotein (NP) is a novel target for therapeutics as it functions significantly in several aspects of the viral life cycle. Consequently, LASV NP inhibitors could be employed as effective therapeutics as they will potentially inhibit LASV replication. Effective preventive control measures, vaccine development, target validation, and repurposing of existing drugs, such as ribavirin, using activity or in silico-based and computational bioinformatics, would aid in the development of novel drugs for LF management.

Over the last several years, the gut microbiota–brain axis has been the focus of medical study, demonstrating the bidirectional nature of gut and brain communication and the resulting influence on neurological and mental health. Trillions of microorganisms, particularly those found in the gastrointestinal tract, contribute the most to the pathophysiology recovery of organs that are critical to human health, such as digestive processes and metabolism, immune responses, and even cognitive function. Dysbiosis (a disturbance in the microbiome balance) has been identified as one of the risk factors for neuropsychiatric illnesses such as depression, anxiety, autism spectrum disorder, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. Therapeutic strategies aimed at the gut microbiota, such as probiotics, dietary modifications, prebiotics, and fecal microbiota transplantation, will eventually offer ways to alleviate symptoms associated with these disorders by restoring microbial balance, modulating the immune response, and influencing the production of major neurotransmitters. Innovative drug carriers, such as microbially-derived nanoparticles and probiotics that target particular parts of the gut or microbial communities, may improve pharmaceutical treatment efficacy and specificity. The resolution of difficulties such as ethical concerns, unexpected repercussions, and peak performance optimization in a clinical setting is critical for the advancement of this subject.

Obesity, driven by high‐calorie diets, is a global health concern closely associated with chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease and liver dysfunction. This study investigated the therapeutic potential of lycopene, a potent antioxidant found in tomatoes, in mitigating hyperlipidemia‐induced metabolic disorders in male rats. Obese rats induced by a high‐fat diet (HFD) showed significant increases in body weight (284.12 ± 4.33 g) and serum levels of total cholesterol (TC: 255.21 ± 2.24 mg/dL), triglycerides (TG: 199.23 ± 6.12 mg/dL), LDL‐C (171.27 ± 4.84 mg/dL), and liver enzymes ALT (62.10 ± 3.80 U/L), AST (92.41 ± 1.48 U/L), and ALP (148.18 ± 0.55 U/L), alongside elevated inflammatory cytokines TNF‐α (1279 ± 10.81 pg/mL) and IL‐6 (859 ± 17.3 pg/mL). Treatment with lycopene (30 mg/kg b.w.) over 6 weeks significantly reduced body weight (237.94 ± 3.14 g), TC (180.85 ± 4.99 mg/dL), TG (137.13 ± 5.61 mg/dL), LDL‐C (46.11 ± 2.67 mg/dL), and liver enzyme levels (ALT: 30.34 ± 5.07 U/L, AST: 71.19 ± 2.12 U/L, ALP: 126.30 ± 5.15 U/L). It also improved HDL‐C (48.15 ± 2.35 mg/dL) and antioxidant markers such as SOD (40.62 ± 2.20 U/dL) and CAT (63.66 ± 4.73 U/g), whereas decreasing MDA (29.45 ± 2.33 mM/g), TNF‐α (587 ± 12.9 pg/mL), and IL‐6 (301 ± 16.7 pg/mL) followed by lycopene (25 mg/kg b.w.). Histological analysis showed a marked improvement in liver architecture, with reduced fat accumulation and inflammation. These findings suggest that lycopene supplementation effectively counteracts obesity‐induced dyslipidemia, oxidative stress, and liver inflammation, supporting its potential role as a dietary therapeutic agent for metabolic and hepatic disorders. Future recommendations include conducting long‐term clinical trials in humans to validate these findings, exploring optimal dosages for dietary lycopene supplementation, and investigating its molecular mechanisms of action.

Across communities worldwide, various new psychoactive substances (NPSs) continue to emerge, which worsens the challenges to global mental health, drug rules, and public health risks, as well as combats their usage. Specifically, the vast number of NPSs that are currently available, coupled with the rate at which new ones emerge worldwide, increasingly challenges both forensic and clinical testing strategies. The well-established NPS detection techniques include immunoassays, colorimetric tests, mass spectrometric techniques, chromatographic techniques, and hyphenated types. Nonetheless, mitigating drug abuse and NPS usage is achievable through extensive community-based initiatives, with increased focus on harm reduction. Clinically validated and reliable testing of NPS from human samples, along with community-driven solution, such as harm reduction, will be of great importance, especially in combating their prevalence and the use of other illicit synthetic substances. There is a need for continued literature synthesis to reiterate the importance of NPS, given the continuous emergence of illicit substances in the recent years. All these are discussed in this overview, as we performed another look into NPS, from differentiating the major groups and identifying with laboratory testing challenges to community-based initiatives.