Prakriti-Based Medicine: Exploring the Genetic Foundations of Ayurvedic Principles
Abstract
Ayurveda (the science of life) is an ancient system of medicine practised in India and works on the concept of Prakriti, a person's individual physical and psychological constitution influenced by three Dosha (Vata, Pitta, and Kapha). Ayurgenomics integration genomics and Ayurveda for the personalized medicine may provide new insights into Tridosha theory to personalize medicine. Scientific studies have begun to unravel the genetic basis of Prakriti, including correlations between individual constitution types and SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms), gene expression patterns, and physiological states. Domain 9 relates with relation of Prakriti with disease susceptibility, drug metabolism, drug efficacy. Epigenetics, the dynamic alteration in gene expression by lifestyle and environment is these days recognized as a foundation to Ayurvedic teachings. Ayurnutrigenomics is an emerging idea with the aim to develop personalized functional foods and nutraceuticals based on a person's genetic make-up, inspired by Ayurveda principles. From a Prakriti perspective, the three pillars of Ayurveda Ahara (diet), Vihara (activity or lifestyle), and Aushadhi (medicine) form a well-knitted method to provide personalized care for patients according to their Prakriti and preventive health promotion. Future implications The utilization of Ayurgenomics into modern medicine has tremendous life-changing possibilities and can really change the future of healthcare by delivering personalized, feasible means to address illness. However, more in-depth research is required for the complete understanding of molecular basis of Prakriti and for validation of Ayurvedic therapies with well-defined clinical trials.
References
2. Dash B, Sharma RK. Charaka Samhita. Varanasi, India: Caukhambha Orientalia; 1995.
3. Rotti H, Guruprasad KP, Nayak J, et al. Immunophenotyping of normal individuals classified on the basis of human Dosha Prakriti. J Ayurveda Integr Med. 2014;5(1):43-9.
4. Prasher B, Negi S, Aggarwal S, et al. Whole genome expression and biochemical correlates of extreme constitutional types defined in Ayurveda. J Transl Med. 2008;6:48.
5. Shilpa S, Murthy CG. Understanding personality from Ayurvedic perspective for psychological assessment: A case. Ayu. 2011;32(1):12-9.
6. Gupta PD. Pharmacogenetics, pharmacogenomics and ayurgenomics for personalized medicine: a paradigm shift. Indian J Pharm Sci. 2015;77(2):135-41.
7. Chatterjee B, Pancholi J. Prakriti-based medicine: A step towards personalized medicine. Ayu. 2011;32(2):141-6.
8. Wallace RK. Ayurgenomics and Modern Medicine. Medicina (Kaunas). 2020;56(12):661.
9. Patwardhan B, Bodeker G. Ayurvedic genomics: Establishing a genetic basis for mind-body typologies. J Altern Complement Med. 2008;14(5):571-6.
10. Juyal RC, Negi S, Wakhode P, Bhat S, Bhat B, Thelma BK. Potential of ayurgenomics approach in complex trait research: Leads from a pilot study on rheumatoid arthritis. PLoS One. 2012;7(9):e45752.
11. Hawkins RD, Hon GC, Ren B. Next-generation genomics: an integrative approach. Nat Rev Genet. 2010;11(7):476-86.
12. Sethi TP, Prasher B, Mukerji M. Ayurgenomics: A New Way of Threading Molecular Variability for Stratified Medicine. ACS Chem Biol. 2011;6(9):875-80.
13. Lemonnier N, Zhou GB, Prasher B, et al. Traditional knowledge-based medicine: A review of history, principles, and relevance in the present context of P4 systems medicine. Prog Prev Med. 2017;2(4):e0011.
14. Prasher B, Negi S, Aggarwal S, et al. Whole genome expression and biochemical correlates of extreme constitutional types defined in Ayurveda. J Transl Med. 2008;6:48.
15. Sharma H, Wallace RK. Ayurveda and Epigenetics. Medicina (Kaunas). 2020;56(12):687.
16. Sharma H. Ayurveda: Science of life, genetics, and epigenetics. Ayu. 2016;37(2):87-91.
17. Bird A. Perceptions of epigenetics. Nature. 2007;447(7143):396-8.
18. Storey JD, Madeoy J, Strout JL, Wurfel M, Ronald J, Akey JM. Gene-expression variation within and among human populations. Am J Hum Genet. 2007;80(3):502-9.
19. Banerjee S, Debnath P, Debnath PK. Ayurnutrigenomics: Ayurveda-Inspired Personalized Nutrition from Inception to Evidence. J Tradit Complement Med. 2015;5(4):228-33.
20. Joshi K, Ghodke Y, Shintre P. Traditional medicine and genomics. J Ayurveda Integr Med. 2010;1(1):26-32.
21. Tiwari S, Gehlot S, Tiwari SK, Singh G. Effect of walking (aerobic isotonic exercise) on physiological variants with special reference to Prameha (diabetes mellitus) as per Prakriti. Ayu. 2012;33(1):44-9.
22. Dey S, Pahwa P. Prakriti and its associations with metabolism, chronic diseases, and genotypes: Possibilities of new born screening and a lifetime of personalized prevention. J Ayurveda Integr Med. 2014;5(1):15-24.
23. Patwardhan B, Joshi K, Chopra A. Classification of human population based on HLA gene polymorphism and the concept of Prakriti in Ayurveda. J Altern Complement Med. 2005;11(2):349-53.
24. Aggarwal S, Negi S, Jha P, et al. EGLN1 involvement in high-altitude adaptation revealed through genetic analysis of extreme constitution types defined in Ayurveda. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010;107(42):18961-6.
25. Ghodke Y, Joshi K, Patwardhan B. Traditional medicine to modern pharmacogenomics: Ayurveda Prakriti type and CYP2C19 gene polymorphism associated with the metabolic variability. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2011;2011:249528.
26. Govindaraj P, Nizamuddin S, Sharath A, et al. Genome-wide analysis correlates Ayurveda Prakriti. Sci Rep. 2015;5:15786.
27. Aggarwal S, Gheware A, Agrawal A, et al. Combined genetic effects of EGLN1 and VWF modulate thrombotic outcome in hypoxia revealed by Ayurgenomics approach. J Transl Med. 2015;13:184.
28. Bhalerao S, Deshpande T, Thatte U. Prakriti (Ayurvedic concept of constitution) and variations in platelet aggregation. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2012;12:248.
29. Kurup RK, Kurup PA. Hypothalamic digoxin, hemispheric chemical dominance, and the Tridosha theory. Int J Neurosci. 2003;113(5):657-81.
30. Rapolu SB, Kumar M, Singh G, Patwardhan K. Physiological variations in the autonomic responses may be related to the constitutional types defined in Ayurveda. J Humanitas Med. 2015;5:e7.
31. Mahalle NP, Kulkarni MV, Pendse NM, Naik SS. Association of constitutional type of Ayurveda with cardiovascular risk factors, inflammatory markers and insulin resistance. J Ayurveda Integr Med. 2012;3(3):150-7.
32. Manyam BV, Kumar A. Ayurvedic constitution (prakruti) identifies risk factor of developing Parkinson's disease. J Altern Complement Med. 2013;19(7):644-9.
33. Shirolkar SG, Tripathi RK, Rege NN. Evaluation of prakruti and quality-of-life in patients with irritable bowel syndrome. Anc Sci Life. 2015;34(4):210-5.
34. Prasher B, Varma B, Kumar A, et al. Ayurgenomics for stratified medicine: TRISUTRA consortium initiative across ethnically and geographically diverse Indian populations. J Ethnopharmacol. 2017;197:274-93.
35. Jayasundar R. If systems approach is the way forward, what can the Ayurvedic theory of Tridosha teach us? Curr Sci. 2017;112(5):893-896.
36. Tiwari P, Kutum R, Sethi T, et al. Recapitulation of Ayurveda constitution types by machine learning of phenotypic traits. PLoS One. 2017;12(10):e0185380.
37. Hood L, Balling R, Auffray C. Revolutionizing medicine in the 21st century through systems approaches. Biotechnol J. 2012;7(8):992-1001.
38. Wallace RK. Ayurgenomics and Modern Medicine. Medicina (Kaunas). 2020;56(12):661.
