Translational Dermatology in Ayurveda

Abstract

Dermatology is one of the clinical areas where Ayurvedic therapies have had a sustained and relatively unbroken presence in modern practice, partly because topical application makes dose-and-delivery questions more tractable than for systemic therapies, and partly because several Ayurvedic skin-therapy ingredients - Bakuchi (Psoralea corylifolia), neem, turmeric, manjistha - have passed the modern mechanistic scrutiny that many other traditional therapies have struggled with. We consolidated 82 peer-reviewed studies published between 2012 and 2024 evaluating Ayurvedic dermatological therapies against standard dermatology-clinical endpoints. Studies were grouped into five translational frames: D1 (inflammatory dermatoses), D2 (pigmentation disorders), D3 (acne and sebaceous disorders), D4 (wound healing and scar management), and D5 (photoaging and Rasayana dermatology). Each frame was scored on the Ayurvedic Dermatology Translation Index (ADTI), a weighted composite across clinical effect, safety, mechanistic plausibility, preparation standardisation, and integration with standard dermatology care. Pigmentation disorders (D2) and inflammatory dermatoses (D1) came out on top at ADTI 0.862 and 0.846, both carrying strong modern-dermatology-comparable clinical evidence. Our reading is that Ayurvedic dermatology is one of the clinical areas most ready for structured integration into mainstream dermatology practice, with several preparations meriting consideration as first-line or adjunctive options for specific indications.