DNA methylation analysis of phenotype specific stratified Indian population.

BACKGROUND: DNA methylation and its perturbations are an established attribute to a wide spectrum of phenotypic variations and disease conditions. Indian traditional system practices personalized medicine through indigenous concept of distinctly descriptive physiological, psychological and anatomical features known as prakriti. Here we attempted to establish DNA methylation differences in these three prakriti phenotypes. METHODS: Following structured and objective measurement of 3416 subjects, whole blood DNA of 147 healthy male individuals belonging to defined prakriti (Vata, Pitta and Kapha) between the age group of 20-30years were subjected to methylated DNA immunoprecipitation (MeDIP) and microarray analysis. After data analysis, prakriti specific signatures were validated through bisulfite DNA sequencing. RESULTS: Differentially methylated regions in CpG islands and shores were significantly enriched in promoters/UTRs and gene body regions. Phenotypes characterized by higher metabolism (Pitta prakriti) in individuals showed distinct promoter (34) and gene body methylation (204), followed by Vata prakriti which correlates to motion showed DNA methylation in 52 promoters and 139 CpG islands and finally individuals with structural attributes (Kapha prakriti) with 23 and 19 promoters and CpG islands respectively. Bisulfite DNA sequencing of prakriti specific multiple CpG sites in promoters and 5'-UTR such as; LHX1 (Vata prakriti), SOX11 (Pitta prakriti) and CDH22 (Kapha prakriti) were validated. Kapha prakriti specific CDH22 5'-UTR CpG methylation was also found to be associated with higher body mass index (BMI). CONCLUSION: Differential DNA methylation signatures in three distinct prakriti phenotypes demonstrate the epigenetic basis of Indian traditional human classification which may have relevance to personalized medicine.

Controversial identities of medicinal plants in classical literature of Ayurveda.

India's medical heritage across its two streams of experiential knowledge viz. the classical (codified) and folk (oral) reveals an incredible range and depth of knowledge of medicinal plants. In the classical stream of Ayurveda, across the period from 1500 BCE to 1900 CE, there is information of more than 12,000 distinct Sanskrit plant names with overlaps across texts. This information is captured in more than 200 texts viz. 6 samhitas, 57 nighantus and 140 vyakhyas. The information about plants has three major dimensions in codified literature viz. morphological description (rupa gnana), pharmacology (dravya guna shastra) and pharmacy (bhaishajya kalpana). The morphological information is however sketchy and wholly inadequate for establishing botanical identity. Thus despite the huge corpus of plant names backed by sophisticated understanding of pharmacology and pharmacy there is the fact of controversial identities of medicinal plants. Why is this the case? The author believes that the gap in morphological detailing is due to the 'experiential' pedagogy of India's health tradition. While knowledge transmission of plants included theoretical propositions and sophisticated logic related to pharmacology, it also assumed an oral, practical and experiential system of learning about the identity of plants through field work. The purpose of this research is to understand the range and depth at which we have understood the problem of controversial identities of medicinal plants, to analyze work done in the field and to propose a Trans disciplinary approach to solve the problem of controversial identities of medicinal plants in Ayurveda.

Documentation of 'Plant Drugs' dispensed via local weekly shanties of Madurai City, India.

BACKGROUND: The Valaiyar (Moopanar) communities of Tamil Nadu are traditionally known for catching rats and snakes from the agricultural fields. Prior to independence, some of these families have faced socio-economic changes and chosen to become herbalists in Madurai city. They are mainly engaged in collecting and dispensing fresh and dried plant drugs in its 'natural form' at Tilagar tidal market of Madurai city. Their business is unique, because customers receive 'prescriptions' and 'plant drugs', unlike the conventional dispensaries. Their world view is: 'to cure the ailing in natural way'. OBJECTIVES: To document plant drugs collected and dispensed by some of the families belonging to Valaiyar (Moopanar) community in the Tilagar tidal market. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ethnobotanical tools were employed to document various aspects of the practices including resource and knowledge base, medicinal uses, dosage, collection of herbarium and raw drug specimens. Integrative approach was adapted to document the trade dynamics. RESULTS: During the study, 133 medicinal plant species belonging to 50 families were documented. 71% of species were sourced from wild and non-forest areas. 272 simple and compound remedies were recorded. CONCLUSION: Local markets/shanties like these are 'Traditional Medicine (TM) health care services at door step'. They cater to local health care needs along with conventional system in a synergistic manner and provide adaptable, local solutions using local resources.

Determinants of prakriti, the human constitution types of Indian traditional medicine and its correlation with contemporary science.

BACKGROUND: Constitutional type of an individual or prakriti is the basic clinical denominator in Ayurveda, which defines physical, physiological, and psychological traits of an individual and is the template for individualized diet, lifestyle counseling, and treatment. The large number of phenotype description by prakriti determination is based on the knowledge and experience of the assessor, and hence subject to inherent variations and interpretations. OBJECTIVE: In this study we have attempted to relate dominant prakriti attribute to body mass index (BMI) of individuals by assessing an acceptable tool to provide the quantitative measure to the currently qualitative ayurvedic prakriti determination. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study is cross sectional, multicentered, and prakriti assessment of a total of 3416 subjects was undertaken. Healthy male, nonsmoking, nonalcoholic volunteers between the age group of 20-30 were screened for their prakriti after obtaining written consent to participate in the study. The prakriti was determined on the phenotype description of ayurvedic texts and simultaneously by the use of a computer-aided prakriti assessment tool. Kappa statistical analysis was employed to validate the prakriti assessment and Chi-square, Cramer's V test to determine the relatedness in the dominant prakriti to various attributes. RESULTS: We found 80% concordance between ayurvedic physician and software in predicting the prakriti of an individual. The kappa value of 0.77 showed moderate agreement in prakriti assessment. We observed a significant correlations of dominant prakriti to place of birth and BMI with Chi-square, P < 0.01 (Cramer's V-value of 0.156 and 0.368, respectively). CONCLUSION: The present study attempts to integrate knowledge of traditional ayurvedic concepts with the contemporary science. We have demonstrated analysis of prakriti classification and its association with BMI and place of birth with the implications to one of the ways for human classification.