IIT Guwahati researchers study therapeutic action of Ayurvedic formulations

Guwahati: Researchers from IIT Guwahati have used modern drug development methods to analyse the mode of action of Ayurvedic rejuvenating medicine – Amalaki Rasayana.

The result of the study by Prof Vibin Ramakrishnan, Professor, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, IIT Guwahati, and Prof CC Kartha of Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences, has been recently published in a prestigious Nature partnership journal Systems Biology and Applications. It shows how Amalaki Rasayana reduces high blood pressure-induced structural and functional changes in the heart.

Prof. Ramakrishnan and Prof. Kartha had earlier found that long term oral intake of Amalaki Rasayana reduces the thickening of the heart muscle and improves heart function. The present study that used the emerging scientific approaches of Network Pharmacology and Chemoinformatics shows how the formulation is likely to work in the human body.

Prof Ramakrishnan said, “The hallmark of Ayurvedic system is the long-standing unverified claim that it is a holistic approach; it treats the body as a whole. Multiple components in ayurvedic medicine are believed to act synergistically to improve a diseased condition. Our analysis using the tools and techniques of modern medicine suggests that this is, indeed, true.”

“This interdisciplinary approach provides opportunities for systematic investigations for unravelling the mechanism of action of multicomponent Ayurvedic medicines from the perspective of a network of normal functional pathways as well as pathways that are altered in chronic diseases,” said Prof Kartha.