Artificial intelligence and complex natural products for cardiovascular infection prevention and oxidative damage mitigation

The cardiovascular system remains vulnerable to a multitude of threats, including infections, inflammation, and oxidative stress. These factors contribute significantly to the development and progression of cardiovascular diseases, a pressing global health concern. Historically, research into natural medicines has primarily focused on isolated compounds. However, complex natural entities like essential oils, rich in diverse chemical constituents, offer superior therapeutic potential. We discuss here how their inherent variability can lead to unpredictable synergistic and antagonistic effects, hindering consistent therapeutic outcomes. This inconsistency is particularly problematic in addressing the rising incidence of perioperative infections and the need to combat radical-mediated damage and subclinical inflammation. This scoping review departs from the hypothesis “Can we leverage complex natural products for the discovery of new clinical approaches to cardiovascular diseases encompassing inflammation and infection?”. Therefore, we delve into the potential of complex natural products, particularly essential oils, in preventing cardiovascular infections and mitigating oxidative damage, emphasizing the crucial role of artificial neural networks (ANNs) in advancing this field. The review emphasizes the need for multidisciplinary collaboration to generate quality data for effective ANN analysis, envisioning future integration of omics technologies with ANNs for more precise predictions of natural product activities. It addresses challenges in translating AI-designed essential oils to clinical practice, including intellectual property protection and standardization issues due to regional variability, suggesting a potential role for the World Health Organization in establishing guidelines for essential oil specifications to ensure consistent efficacy while enabling global accessibility. The author concludes by stressing the need to address ethical considerations at the intersection of technology, science, and clinical practice, particularly regarding the proprietary status of essential oils versus making them freely available worldwide.