Challenges in integrating component level technology and system level information from Ayurveda: Insights from NMR phytometabolomics and anti-HIV potential of select Ayurvedic medicinal plants

Background: Information from Ayurveda meeting the analytical challenges of modern technology is anarea of immense relevance. Apart from the cerebral task of bringing together two different viewpoints,the question at the pragmatic level remains ‘who benefits whom’.Objective: The aim is to highlight the challenges in integration of information (Ayurvedic) and technology using test examples of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) metabolomics and anti-HIV-1 potential of select Ayurvedic medicinal plants. The other value added objective is implications andrelevance of such work for Ayurveda.Materials and methods: Six medicinal plants (Azadirachta indica, Tinospora cordifolia, Swertia chirata,Terminalia bellerica, Zingiber officinale and Symplocos racemosa) were studied using high resolutionproton NMR spectroscopy based metabolomics and also evaluated for anti-HIV-1 activity on threepseudoviruses (ZM53 M.PB12, ZM109F.PB4, RHPA 4259.7).Results: Of the six plants, T. bellerica and Z. officinale showed minimum cell cytotoxicity and maximumanti-HIV-1 potential. T. bellerica was effective against all the three HIV-1 pseudoviruses. Untargeted NMRprofiling and multivariate analyses demonstrated that the six plants, all of which had different Ayurvedicpharmacological properties, showed maximum differences in the aromatic region of the spectra.Conclusion: The work adds onto the list of potential plants for anti-HIV-1 drug molecules. At the sametime, it has drawn attention to the different perspectives of Ayurveda and Western medicine underscoring the inherent limitations of conceptual bilinguism between the two systems, especially in thecontext of medicinal plants. The study has also highlighted the potential of NMR metabolomics in studyof plant extracts as used in Ayurveda.© 2017 Transdisciplinary University, Bangalore and World Ayurveda Foundation. Publishing Services byElsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Healthcare the Ayurvedic way.

Ayurveda, the indigenous medical system of India, has integrated the concept of interconnectedness into its understanding of health and disease. It considers the human body as an indivisible whole with a network of interrelated functions, mind and consciousness, wherein a disturbance in one part will have repercussions in other parts as well. The key to health is for these factors to maintain stability since disease is seen as a perturbation in this network. Ayurvedic treatment aims not only at removal of disease, but also at the restoration of the equilibrium of bodily functions.

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy in pediatric neurology.

In the last three decades a range of non-invasive biophysical techniques have been developed, of which Magnetic Resonance (MR) has proved to be the most versatile. Its non-invasive and safe nature has made it the most important diagnostic and research tool in clinical medicine. MR Spectroscopy (MRS) is the only technique in clinical medicine that provides non-invasive access to living chemistry in situ. This article focuses mainly on proton MRS in brain and also phosphorus MRS in calf muscle, with particular reference to the pediatric population, the normal spectrum and its use in various disease conditions in the practice of pediatric neurology. Few representative case studies among different disease groups have also been detailed.