Using the integrated approach of cheminformatics and network systems biology, Researchers from IIT Guwahati investigated Amalaki Rasayana (AR), an Ayurvedic rejuvenate for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases such as pressure-overload left ventricular cardiac hypertrophy (LVCH). The study has been published in the Nature Partnership Journal System Biology and Applications.
Modern medicine is primarily driven by the discovery of small-molecule entities with pharmacological actions. Despite the vast scope of the chemical universe, the probability of success in discovering a new molecule with potential therapeutic effects is now becoming more and more challenging. Researchers used in-vivo studies, proteomics analysis, informatics tools, and techniques of network pharmacology to create a conscious attempt to present a complete analytical platform to investigate the efficacy and synergy of ayurvedic medicines systematically.
The in-vivo study on artificially Aorta Constricted and aged Wistar rats provided vital information about changes in protein expression profile, yielding 450 and 1166 proteins, respectively, that are modulated by AR.
The biological functions of these proteins signify either a regulatory or pathogenic role in the cardiovascular system, such as blood pressure regulation, fatty acid synthesis, cholesterol synthesis, cardiac hypertrophy, cardiomyopathy, and systemic hypertension.
Researchers identified that these existing drug molecules can be repositioned to develop a combinatorial therapy for the treatment of pressure-overload LV cardiac hypertrophy and other cardiovascular diseases.
Research said, "The complexity of the underlying biological processes and interactome, therefore, demands multiple synergistic therapeutics targeting different proteins involved in the disease onset and prognosis. Identification of such synergistic therapeutic partners is both complex and arduous due to various drug–drug interactions. We believe that it would be prudent to identify traditional medicines in eastern methods, which have been practiced over centuries, for their potential utility."
IIT Guwahati professor Ramakrishnan and Professor Karatha have found that prolonged intake of amalaki chemicals reduces the fatness of the heart muscle and improves cardiovascular performance. He showed from network pharmacology and chemoinformatics how it works in the human body. Network pharmacology analyzes the effect of drugs on diseases.
AR is a result of a series of systematic preparatory procedures, prepared primarily from the fruits of Phyllanthus Emblica or Emblica Officinalis as major constituent as per the guidelines of Charaka Samhita, written in the third century BCE.
