Bell Palsy: Facts and Current Research Perspectives

Bell palsy is a non-progressive neurological condition characterized by the acute onset of ipsilateral seventh cranial nerve paralysis. People who suffer from this type of facial paralysis develop a droop on one side of their face, or sometimes both. This condition is distinguished by a sudden onset of facial paralysis accompanied by clinical features such as mild fever, postauricular pain, dysgeusia, hyperacusis, facial changes, and drooling or dry eyes. Epidemiological evidence suggests that 15 to 23 people per 100,000 are affected each year, with a recurrence rate of 12%. It could be caused by ischaemic compression of the seventh cranial nerve, which could be caused by viral inflammation. Pregnant women, people with diabetes, and people with respiratory infections are more likely to have facial paralysis than the general population. Immune, viral, and ischemic pathways are all thought to play a role in the development of Bell paralysis, but the exact cause is unknown. However, there is evidence that Bell's hereditary proclivity to cause paralysis is a public health issue that has a greater impact on patients and their families. Delay or untreated Bell paralysis may contribute to an increased risk of facial impairment, as well as a negative impact on the patient's quality of life. For management, antiviral agents such as acyclovir and valacyclovir, and steroid treatment are recommended. Thus, early diagnosis accompanied by treatment of the uncertain etiology of the disorder is crucial. This paper reviews mechanistic approaches, and emerging medical perspectives on recent developments that encounter Bell palsy disorder.

Differential Pharmacokinetic Interplay of Atorvastatin on Lacosamide and Levetiracetam on Experimental Convulsions in Mice

BACKGROUND

The beneficial effects of statins, other than their hypocholesterolemia role, have been well documented, however, their use as an adjuvant drug with other antiseizure drugs, in the treatment of epilepsy is poorly understood.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to investigate the symbiotic effect of ATOR along with either lacosamide (LACO) or levetiracetam (LEVE) on experimentally induced epilepsy (Maximal electro-shock-MES or pentylenetetrazol- PTZ) in mice models.

METHODS

Conventional elevated-maze (EPM) and rotarod methods were performed to observe the behavioral effects.

RESULTS

In both the animal models, we found that co-administration of ATOR along with LACO showed a significant reduction in hind-limb extension (HLE) and clonic convulsion (CC) responses, respectively, but not in the ATOR+LEVE treated group. Intriguingly, comparable Straub tail response and myoclonic convulsion as the diazepam (DIA) group were observed only in the ATOR+LACO treated group. Moreover, a significant muscle-grip strength was observed in both groups. Also, pharmacokinetic analysis has indicated that the mean plasma concentration of ATOR peaked at 2nd hr in the presence of LACO but marginally peaked in the presence of LEVE. An Insilico study has revealed that ATOR has a higher binding affinity toward neuronal sodium channels.

CONCLUSION

This study has demonstrated that the plasma concentration of ATOR was potentiated in the presence of LACO, but not in the presence of LEVE and it has provided significant protection against both the electro and chemo-convulsive models in mice. This could be due to the symbiotic pharmacokinetic interplay of ATOR with LACO, and possibly, this interplay may interfere with sodium channel conductance.

Climate change scenarios, their impacts and implications on Indian cardamom-coffee hot spots; one of the two in the world

In this study, we investigated climatic parameters and predicted future changes in precipitation and atmospheric temperature levels based on RCP4. 5/8.5 scenarios in all cardamom-coffee hot spots of southern India. Our results showed more precipitation levels and patterns occurred in Cardamom hills (Kerala), followed by lower Puleny hills in Tamil Nadu. The least variation in precipitation levels has been noticed for temperate upper Puleny hills and Kodagu hills in Karnataka. RCP4.5/8.5 scenario analysis showed greater variability in precipitation, up to 180% increase and 90% decrease for all hot sports. The scenario analysis also predicted extreme temperature variations ranging from 0.5 to 8.5°C increase for the entire study region. A significant change in coffee yield and quality has been recorded over the last 30 years. Increased yield trends in coffee were noticed for Cardamom hills (CH) and Kodagu hills, but significantly lower coffee production was observed for lower Pulney hills. The mixed response of yield variability in coffee has been primarily attributed to the ongoing changing climatic factors. Ecophysiological studies of coffee, cardamom, and black pepper have proved that coffee would adapt well to future challenging climatic conditions, closely followed by cardamom and black pepper. Since all the coffee-cardamom hot spots in southern India undergoes considerable change in precipitation levels and pattern, necessary precautions, including water and irrigation management strategies, must be given utmost priority to increase the crop yield sustainability of these delicate cardamom-coffee hot spots in India.

5-HT3 receptor antagonism a potential therapeutic approach for the treatment of depression and other disorders

Background

Depression or Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a prolonged condition of sadness. MDD is the most common mental disorder that affects more than 264 million people worldwide. According to the monoamine hypothesis, serotonin (5-hydroxy tryptamine, 5-HT), dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE) are the major neurotransmitters (NTs) involved in depression.

Methods

The methodology adopted for writing this review article is essentially based on the secondary literature search through a systematic literature review. This review mainly focussed on the role of 5-HT₃ receptor antagonists (5-HT₃RA) in depression and comorbid disorders like anxiety.

Results

Out of three major NTs mentioned above, serotonin has a predominant role in the pathophysiology of depression. The serotonin type-3 receptors (5-HT₃R) are well renowned to be expressed in the central nervous system (CNS) in regions which have significance in the vomiting reflex, perception of pain, the reward system, cognition, depression and anxiety control. 5-HT₃R are the receptors of serotonergic family that belong to ligand-gated ion channel. 5-HT₃RA inhibit the binding of serotonin to postsynaptic 5-HT₃R and increases its availability to other receptors like 5-HT_1A, _1B and _1D as well as 5-HT₂ receptors and produces anti-depressant-like effect. 5-HT₃RA also have an important role in mood and stress disorders. Some of the studies have shown the effectiveness of these agents in stress disorder.

Conclusion

The present article focussed on the role of 5-HT₃R and their antagonists in the treatment of depression and anxiety. Further studies are warranted to prove their efficacy with respect to other standard anti-depressants.