Exploring synergy in ayurveda and traditional Indian systems of medicine

Abstract

Synergy is a phenomenon of life. It has been observed that combinatory treatments may achieve more stable “network responses’’ than single drugs. Drug combination treatments are routinely applied in an increasing number of disciplines in medicine. Single drug treatments are less effective than drug combinations in complex treatment regimes. Plant derived herbal drugs or phytopharmaceuticals can be considered a natural “model” for combinatory treatments. Specific compositions of multi-component mixtures represent combined actions of single substances. Ayurveda, the traditional medicine of India has played an important role in disease management and health for many centuries, their present frequent use is challenged by the necessity to determine their complex composition and their multitarget mode of action. Ancient Ayurvedic literature like Sarangadhar Samhita focuses on the idea of synergy or ‘samyoga’. Network pharmacology research focuses on excellent systems biology techniques like protein interaction, genomic expression and mRNA expression data, which are employed to gain insight into the mechanism of action (MoA) prediction and validation. The following brief review provides valuable perspective regarding the bridge of Ayurveda and synergy research using network pharmacology as the tool to understand the molecular combination mechanism.