Saraca asoca · PhytoNexus

01 Identity and provenance

Accepted binomial: Saraca asoca
Common names: Ashoka
Family (APG IV): Fabaceae
Part used: Bark
Verification tier: Tier 2 · Unverified Clinical columns are populated but no primary reference was supplied. Treat the interaction list as a hypothesis to be checked against literature.

02 Constituent chemistry

Chemical class	Marker compound	Synthetic analogue in use
Tannins	catechin, epicatechin Bark	Tranexamic acid

The analogue column is what makes the interaction reasoning tractable: where a constituent has a marketed structural counterpart, the counterpart's interaction profile is the starting hypothesis for the plant.

Looking up structures and physicochemical properties from PubChem…

03 Stated application

Reported activity: menstrual disorders, dysmenorrhea, uterine tonic
Marketed in: Dabur - Ashokarishta syrup, Himalaya wellness - tablets
Reported adverse effects: nausea, stomach upset, allergic reaction

04 Interaction matrix

Source column, verbatim: anti coagulant, anti platelets, hormonal therapy
Normalised onto 3 canonical drug classes below.

Curated from the reviewed source

Drug class	Severity	Mechanism type	Provenance	Expected effect
Anticoagulants (vitamin-K antagonists, DOACs) Haemostasis	3Major	PD-additive + PK-CYP2C9	curated A	INR destabilisation in either direction; ecchymosis, epistaxis, gum bleed…	why ▾
Class mechanism. Coumarin-, salicylate- and coumestan-bearing botanicals add to vitamin-K-antagonist effect; several also compete for CYP2C9 and CYP3A4, raising S-warfarin exposure. Botanicals rich in vitamin K1 act in the opposite direction and blunt anticoagulation. Expected INR destabilisation in either direction; ecchymosis, epistaxis, gum bleeding, GI or intracranial haemorrhage. Management Do not start or stop the botanical without INR cover. Check INR at 3-5 days and again at 2 weeks. Document the product, batch and dose in the anticoagulation record. Onset rapid Evidence A - human data with a cited source Matched on “anti coagulant” Find evidence for this pair Map this mechanism
Antiplatelet agents Haemostasis	3Major	PD-additive	curated A	Prolonged bleeding time, surgical and post-procedural bleeding, bruising,…	why ▾
Chemistry of this pair. Flavonoids inhibit CYP3A4, CYP1A2, OATP1B1 and UGT to a variable extent and have measurable antiplatelet activity. Class mechanism. Organosulfur compounds, gingerols, salicylates, ginkgolides and eugenol inhibit thromboxane A2 synthesis, platelet aggregation and PAF-mediated activation, duplicating the pharmacology of aspirin and P2Y12 blockers. Expected Prolonged bleeding time, surgical and post-procedural bleeding, bruising, haematuria. Management Stop the botanical 7-14 days before elective surgery or neuraxial anaesthesia. Record it on the pre-operative medicines list. Onset rapid Evidence A - human data with a cited source Matched on “anti platelets” Find evidence for this pair Map this mechanism
Hormonal therapy, oral contraceptives and HRT Endocrine	3Major	PK-CYP3A4 induction + PD-oestrogenic	curated A	Breakthrough bleeding and contraceptive failure; unpredictable effect in …	why ▾
Class mechanism. CYP3A4-inducing botanicals accelerate ethinylestradiol and progestin clearance. Separately, isoflavone, lignan and coumestan phyto-oestrogens bind oestrogen receptors and may add to or compete with prescribed hormones. Expected Breakthrough bleeding and contraceptive failure; unpredictable effect in hormone-sensitive malignancy. Management Advise a second, non-hormonal contraceptive method. Avoid phyto-oestrogens in oestrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer without oncology advice. Onset delayed Evidence A - human data with a cited source Matched on “hormonal therapy” Find evidence for this pair Map this mechanism

Predicted from constituent chemistry

These edges are not clinical findings. Each one is a rule inference: a constituent class in this plant is known to act on a target that the drug class also acts on. They are shown because a blank cell reads as “safe”, and for a Tier 1 entry a blank cell only means “not yet looked at”. Treat them as a literature-search agenda, not as a warning.

Drug class	Severity	Mechanism type	Provenance	Expected effect
Cytotoxic and targeted anticancer drugs Oncology	4Contraindicated	PK-CYP3A4/UGT + PD-antagonistic	predicted D	Neutropenic sepsis and severe diarrhoea from over-exposure, or reduced an…	why ▾
Chemistry of this pair. Flavonoids inhibit CYP3A4, CYP1A2, OATP1B1 and UGT to a variable extent and have measurable antiplatelet activity. Class mechanism. Botanical CYP3A4 and UGT1A1 modulation alters exposure to irinotecan, taxanes, vinca alkaloids and kinase inhibitors. High-dose antioxidant botanicals may also oppose the oxidative mechanism of some cytotoxics and of proteasome inhibitors. Expected Neutropenic sepsis and severe diarrhoea from over-exposure, or reduced antitumour effect; boronic-acid proteasome inhibitors are directly antagonised by polyphenols. Management No botanical should be taken during active cytotoxic therapy without oncology sign-off. Record all supplements in the chemotherapy chart. Onset unspecified Evidence D - in silico rule prediction only Find evidence for this pair Map this mechanism
Narrow-therapeutic-index CYP3A4 substrates Pharmacokinetic	4Contraindicated	PK-CYP3A4	predicted D	Toxic accumulation or subtherapeutic failure of the co-prescribed drug, s…	why ▾
Chemistry of this pair. Flavonoids inhibit CYP3A4, CYP1A2, OATP1B1 and UGT to a variable extent and have measurable antiplatelet activity. Class mechanism. Furanocoumarins, bergamottin, piperine, glabridin and berberine inhibit CYP3A4; hyperforin, andrographolide and several diterpenes induce it through PXR. Because CYP3A4 handles roughly half of marketed drugs, the affected list is broad and the direction is product-specific. Expected Toxic accumulation or subtherapeutic failure of the co-prescribed drug, sometimes fatal for antiarrhythmics, immunosuppressants and oncology agents. Management Screen the full regimen for 3A4 substrates. Where the substrate has a narrow index, avoid rather than monitor. Onset unspecified Evidence D - in silico rule prediction only Find evidence for this pair Map this mechanism
Antacids, PPIs and H2 blockers Gastrointestinal	2Moderate	PK-absorption	predicted D	Reduced or erratic absorption of alkaloids; heartburn and reflux from pre…	why ▾
Chemistry of this pair. Polyphenolic tannins precipitate proteins and chelate di- and trivalent cations in the gut lumen. Class mechanism. Gastric pH elevation alters the dissolution and ionisation of alkaloidal and enteric-coated botanical products; menthol- and peppermint-oil products lose their enteric protection at high pH and can be released prematurely. Expected Reduced or erratic absorption of alkaloids; heartburn and reflux from premature release of volatile-oil preparations. Management Separate administration by 2 hours. Avoid non-enteric peppermint oil in reflux disease. Onset unspecified Evidence D - in silico rule prediction only Find evidence for this pair Map this mechanism
Antibacterials and anthelmintics Infection	2Moderate	PK-chelation + PK-CYP	predicted D	Treatment failure from subtherapeutic antibiotic concentrations, or raise…	why ▾
Chemistry of this pair. Polyphenolic tannins precipitate proteins and chelate di- and trivalent cations in the gut lumen. Class mechanism. Cation- and tannin-rich botanicals chelate tetracyclines and fluoroquinolones; efflux-pump-inhibiting and CYP-modulating constituents alter macrolide, rifamycin and azole exposure. Anthelmintic botanicals add to praziquantel and albendazole effect. Expected Treatment failure from subtherapeutic antibiotic concentrations, or raised toxicity of azoles and macrolides. Management Separate doses by 2-3 hours. Do not rely on botanical antimicrobials in place of an indicated antibiotic. Onset unspecified Evidence D - in silico rule prediction only Find evidence for this pair Map this mechanism
Iron, calcium and mineral supplements Nutrition	2Moderate	PK-chelation	predicted D	Failure of iron-deficiency correction, unexplained non-response to oral i…	why ▾
Chemistry of this pair. Polyphenolic tannins precipitate proteins and chelate di- and trivalent cations in the gut lumen. Class mechanism. Tannins, phytates, oxalates and mucilage form insoluble complexes with divalent and trivalent cations in the gut lumen, reducing absorption of both the mineral and any co-administered chelating drug. Expected Failure of iron-deficiency correction, unexplained non-response to oral iron or calcium. Management Separate mineral doses from tannin- and fibre-rich botanicals by at least 2 hours; take iron with ascorbate instead. Onset unspecified Evidence D - in silico rule prediction only Find evidence for this pair Map this mechanism
Statins and lipid-lowering drugs Cardiovascular	2Moderate	PK-CYP3A4/OATP	predicted D	Myalgia, raised creatine kinase, rhabdomyolysis, hepatic transaminase ele…	why ▾
Chemistry of this pair. Flavonoids inhibit CYP3A4, CYP1A2, OATP1B1 and UGT to a variable extent and have measurable antiplatelet activity. Class mechanism. CYP3A4 and OATP1B1 inhibition by furanocoumarin- and flavonoid-rich botanicals raises simvastatin, atorvastatin and lovastatin exposure. Some botanicals themselves contain monacolin K, which is chemically lovastatin. Expected Myalgia, raised creatine kinase, rhabdomyolysis, hepatic transaminase elevation. Management Ask specifically about red-yeast-rice type products. Check CK and ALT if muscle symptoms appear; prefer a non-3A4 statin. Onset unspecified Evidence D - in silico rule prediction only Find evidence for this pair Map this mechanism

05 Hazard register

The audit recorded no hazard beyond the interaction profile. The controlled-vocabulary field reads not assessed, which means the assessment has not been done rather than that it came back clear.

06 Confusable material

No same-genus or shared-common-name entry in the corpus.

07 Mechanism map

Chemistry sorts to the left, pharmacology to the right. Dashed edges are predicted. Drag nodes, scroll to zoom, export at 3× for a figure.

species

chemical class

marker compound

drug class

expected effect

hazard

08 Open literature

Abstract-scoped query built from this binomial, its common names and its marker compounds, run live against Europe PMC, PubMed and OpenAlex, then ranked locally against an evidence hierarchy.

Checking openFDA spontaneous reports…

09 Isomechanistic neighbours

Species whose interaction profile overlaps this one, ranked by shared severity weight rather than by count — a shared contraindication counts for more than a shared minor signal. Practical use: these are the plants you should not stack with this one, because the mechanisms summate.

Species	Family	Shared classes	Jaccard
Phyllanthus amarus Bhui Amla	Phyllanthaceae	9	0.75
Vaccinium myrtillus Bilberry	Ericaceae	8	0.80
Silybum marianum Milk Thistle	Asteraceae	6	0.55
Ficus religiosa Peepal	Moraceae	7	0.78
Senegalia catechu Katha	Fabaceae	7	0.78
Psidium guajava Guava	Myrtaceae	7	0.78

10 References and notes

Source column: Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India; PubMed

Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India

Official monograph manual

PubMed

manual

BibTeX for all 2 records

@article{anon,
  title = {Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India},
}

@article{anon,
  title = {PubMed},
}

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