Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Dec 22, 2025 1 hour, 52 minutes ago
Medical News: Dengue Remains a Serious Global Threat
Dengue fever continues to spread rapidly across tropical and subtropical regions, infecting hundreds of millions of people each year. Despite decades of research, doctors still lack a specific antiviral drug that directly targets the dengue virus. Current treatment mainly focuses on managing symptoms such as fever, pain, and dehydration, leaving a major gap in effective medical solutions.
AI technology uncovers powerful dengue fighting phytochemicals hidden in Colombian medicinal plants
Colombia’s Plant Wealth Sparks Scientific Interest
Colombia is one of the most biodiverse countries on Earth, home to more than 31,000 identified plant species. Thousands of these plants have long been used in traditional medicine, especially for treating fevers and infections. However, most of these natural resources have never been carefully studied using modern scientific methods. This raised an important question for researchers: could Colombian medicinal plants hide compounds capable of stopping dengue virus infection?
Artificial Intelligence Speeds Up Discovery
To answer this question, Colombian scientists turned to artificial intelligence and machine learning. Instead of testing plants one by one in the laboratory, the team built a powerful computer model trained on data from more than 2,000 known anti-dengue compounds. This model was designed to recognize chemical patterns linked to antiviral activity.
Using this AI system, researchers virtually screened 3,267 natural compounds derived from 184 Colombian medicinal plant species. This process allowed them to quickly predict which plant chemicals were most likely to block dengue virus activity, saving years of traditional trial-and-error research.
Antiviral Candidates Emerge Strong
The AI analysis identified 276 phytochemicals with strong predicted antiviral activity against dengue. Many of these compounds were structurally different from known antivirals, suggesting they may work through new biological pathways. After further filtering for safety and drug-like properties, 20 compounds stood out as especially promising.
Among the top candidates were Incartine from Hippeastrum puniceum, Bilobalide from Ginkgo biloba, and Indican from Indigofera suffruticosa. These compounds showed a rare balance of predicted potency, novelty, and characteristics suitable for drug development, making them strong candidates for future laboratory testing.
Why These Findings Are Important
This
Medical News report shows how artificial intelligence can unlock the hidden medical value of traditional plants. The discovery not only highlights Colombia’s rich biodiversity but also demonstrates how modern technology can transform ancient knowledge into potential new medicines. If confirmed in laboratory and clinical studies, these compounds could help fill the long-standing gap in dengue antiviral treatment.
Research Institutions Involved
The study was conducted by scientists from the Departamento de Ciencias
Básicas Médicas and the Departamento de Ciencias Físicas, Exactas y Energía at Universidad Icesi in Cali, Colombia, along with researchers from the Departamento de Ciencias Fisiológicas at Universidad del Valle in Cali, Colombia.
Conclusion
This research provides strong evidence that artificial intelligence can rapidly identify powerful antiviral candidates from nature. By combining advanced computing with Colombia’s unique plant diversity, scientists have opened new doors in the fight against dengue. Although further experimental validation is required, these findings mark a major step toward developing effective antiviral therapies and highlight the enormous medical potential hidden within medicinal plants.
The study findings were published on a preprint server and are currently being peer reviewed.
https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202511.0408
For the latest on antivirals for Dengue, keep on logging to Thailand
Medical News.
Read Also:
https://www.thailandmedical.news/articles/dengue-news
https://www.thailandmedical.news/articles/herbs-and-phytochemicals
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