The drug
discovery process is becoming more and more complex and capital-intensive, and it calls for systematic and critical
reviews of methods and mind-set involved in drug
discovery, and indicates the need to rediscover the discovery process afresh.
The current R&D thrust in the pharmaceutical sector is focused on development of new drugs, innovative/indigenous processes for known drugs and development of plant-based drugs through investigation of leads from traditional systems of medicine. The Indian systems of medicine, Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani, have a relatively organized database, and more exhaustive descriptions of botanical materials are available that can be tested using modern
scientific methods. To find international market for our drugs, we have to shift our paradigm towards scientific validation of our traditional medicines since here is a great hidden pharmacological wealth that can yield several new and safe drugs. It is important that our traditional medicines transcend the geographical and ethnic barriers and become medicines acceptable to the West, either in the form of the original formulation or providing leads to drug discovery. To attain this, our medicines in the non-Western theories of philosophy should be tested in the Western perspectives.
Towards finding a potential therapy for cancer in the three Indian systems of medicine, Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani, we embarked on finding in the literature treatment modalities for cancer. These systems of medicine are unique in that the approach is holistic and the medicines are directed not only to the immediate causative factor of the disease, but also towards protecting the whole body. The Indian Systems of Medicine are in the list approved by the National Council for Alternative Medicine (NCAM), USA. But the problem is that most of these drugs, though claimed to cure diseases, remain yet to be scientifically validated. According to Parasnis (2004), “the full potential of Ayurveda can be realized only by subjecting its drugs to modern investigation”, “acceptance of any clinical trials depends upon whether they satisfy modern pharmacological and statistical standards” and “Ayurveda declines to think and do research on modern lines”.
These criticisms will hold good for Siddha and Unani medicines. Scientific validation shall not only popularize these medicines in India but also render them acceptable, in some form, to the Western population.
There have indeed been sporadic attempts in incipient form in the case of some medicines. Today the pharmacologically active ingredients of a few Ayurvedic medicines are being identified and their usefulness in drug therapy being determined. Scientific testing has revealed that several plants used in Ayurveda are antioxidants, anti tumor etc. The scientific validation shall substantiate the much claimed synergism/additivism of the formulated herbal drugs. It can be speculated that synergy of herbal medicine results from the existence of “redundancy and back-up mechanisms found in the key regulatory and metabolic pathways of the cell”. The combination of a number of different compounds may have synergistic activity by targeting both primary and back-up mechanisms simultaneously. Investigators who specialize in herbal medicines have long claimed that use of whole plant extracts reduces toxicity because of “buffering” between different constituents.
The database of the Indian systems of medicine can be profitably used for bio-prospecting to identify new sources of medicine, within the purview of the much talked about safety and efficacy. Drugs in the Indian systems of medicine can form the basis of discovery of newer drugs or at least provide tangible leads for drug discovery. ‘Reverse pharmacology’ is a very recent concept in this direction. In conventional (i.e., Allopathic) drug research, clinical experiences, observations or available data come at the end whereas in the traditional medicines they become the starting point. In this technology, ‘laboratories to clinic’ actually becomes ‘clinics to laboratory’.