Background The COVID-19 pandemic is found to affect the mental health of the population. Undergraduate medical students are especially prone to mental health disorders and hence could be more vulnerable to the impact of the pandemic. Methods A prospective longitudinal study was conducted on 217 undergraduate medical students in a medical college at Chennai, India. Depression, anxiety, and stress levels were recorded using Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 21 Items (DASS21) before and during the COVID-19 outbreak in India in December 2019 and June 2020, respectively. In the follow-up survey, in addition to DASS21, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index to assess sleep quality and a self-administered questionnaire to assess the impact of COVID-19 related stressors were used. The self-administered questionnaire assessed the status of COVID-19 testing, interactions with COVID-19 patients, self-perceived levels of concerns and worries related to academics (COVID-19-AA (academic apprehensions)) and those pertaining to the self and family/friends (COVID-19-GA (general apprehensions)). Cross-sectional and longitudinal comparison of overall scores of depression, anxiety, and stress and scores stratified by gender, year of study, place of residence and monthly family income were performed. Predictors for depression, anxiety, and stress during COVID-19 were investigated using adjusted binary logistic regression analysis and results were expressed as adjusted odds ratio with 95% confidence interval (CI). A P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results The average scores of depression, anxiety, and stress during the baseline survey were 7.55 ± 7.86, 4.6 ± 6.19 and 7.31 ± 7.34 with the prevalence (95% Cl) of 33.2% [27–39.9%], 21.2% [16–27.2%] and 20.7% [15.5–26.7%]; in follow-up survey, the mean scores were 8.16 ± 8.9, 6.11 ± 7.13 and 9.31 ± 8.18 with the prevalence being 35.5% [29.1–42.2%], 33.2% [27–39.9%] and 24.9% [19.3–31.2%] for depression, anxiety, and stress respectively. There was a significant increase in both the prevalence and levels of anxiety and stress (P < 0.001), with depression remaining unchanged during COVID-19, irrespective of gender, year of study, place of residence and family’s monthly income. Poor sleep quality, higher levels of baseline depression, anxiety, and stress, higher COVID-19-GA, COVID-19 patients in family/friends and direct interactions with COVID-19 patients were found to be significant predictors of negative mental health in undergraduate medical students. COVID-19-AA was not significantly associated with depression, anxiety, and stress. Conclusion The COVID-19 pandemic appears to negatively affect the mental health of the undergraduate medical students with the prevalence and levels of anxiety and stress being increased, and depression symptoms remaining unaltered. Addressing and mitigating the negative effect of COVID-19 on the mental health of this population is crucial.

Introduction: Stress has been known to be a potential modulator of learning and memory. Long term stress can lead to depression. Fluoxetine is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor group of drug used in the treatment of depression. Aim:The present study was conducted to evaluate the potential of Fluoxetine on cold restraint induced stress in the hippocampus of Wistar rats. Materials and Methods:A total of 18 male wistar albino rats were divided randomly into three groups (n=6). Group 1 was the control group which were kept in normal laboratory conditions. Group 2 was the negative control group which were given cold restraint stress for period of four weeks. Group 3 was the experimental group, where the animals were pretreated with fluoxetine 10 mg/kg for a period of one week followed by cold restraint stress for 30 minutes and cotreated with fluoxetine 10 mg/kg for a period of four weeks. The whole study was done for a period of five weeks followed by behavioural studies and subsequently sacrificed with removal of brain for various histological, Immunohistochemical (IHC), neurochemical and antioxidant analysis. The values were expressed as Mean±SEM. One-way analysis of variance followed by Tukey's multiple comparisons test was used for the comparison of means. A probability of 0.05 and less was taken as statistically significant using Prism Graphpad software version 6.01. Results:The results show there was significant improvement in the Morris water maze test after treatment with fluoxetine in Group 2. Similar results were also noted in the levels of neurotransmitters and antioxidant levels in brain and also in the number of cells counted in IHC and histological studies by H&E when Group 3 was compared with Group 2. The treatment reversed the damage in Group 2 which was comparable with the control group. Conclusion:The results revealed that administration of fluoxetine 10 mg/kg given orally has a potential antistressor effect by improving the neurogenic and neuroprotective effect on the cold restraint stress induced hippocampal damage.[Table/ Fig-1]: The experimental design for the study.Saikarthik Jayakumar et al., Effect of Fluoxetine on the hippocampus of Wistar albino rats in cold restraint stress model www.jcdr.net

INTRODUCTIONProstate is one of the accessory glands of the male reproductive system that secretes fluid to form bulk of the semen along with the seminal vesicles and bulbo urethral glands. In post pubescent male, the prostate gland has a volume of upto 20 to 30 ml. The prostate gland comprises of apex, base with an anterior, median, posterior and two lateral lobes. Zones of the prostate gland according to McNeal, are divided into: a) Peripheral zone (70%) of the gland, which are more prone for prostatic cancer; b) Central zone (20%) of the gland, is posterior to the lumen, and above the ejaculatory ducts; c) Peri urethral transition zone (10%), most common for BPH. Structural zone of prostate is composed of concentric zones separated by an ill-defined irregular capsule. The inner zone of prostate gland near the urethra is composed of submucosal glands that open directly into prostatic sinuses which are more prone for BPH. The outer zone has large branched glands and is more prone for prostatic cancer [1]. In men above 40 years of age, BPH is a common entity with significant disability. It is a condition that occurs when the enlarged prostate gland compresses the urethra leading to BOO. BPH can be a histological diagnosis that refers to proliferation of smooth muscle, fibrous tissue and glandular tissue within the prostatic transition zone. The clinical assessment of prostatic size by trans abdominal sonogram has proven to be a more accurate predictor of actual prostatic size, as studies show that trans-abdominal sonogram estimate of prostate size and surgical size shows good correlation [2]. The enlarged gland contributes to the lower urinary tract symptoms through two routes by direct BOO from enlarged tissue (static component) and by increased smooth muscle tone and resistance (dynamic component). The over activity of detrusor is thought to be a contributor to the storage symptoms seen in lower urinary tract symptoms. The symptoms of lower urinary tract caused secondary to BPH are usually not life threatening but can impact the quality of life and should not be underestimated [3]. Urine flowmetry is the electronic recording of urine flow rate throughout the micturation. Abnormal urine flow may be caused by BOO and bladder dysfunction resulting in significant PVR volume. Increasing PVR urine volume denotes significant bladder dysfunction and risk of developing urinary tract infection. Thus, this concept favours inclusion of PVR urine volume measurement in the evaluation of men with BPH [4]. Thus men with lower urinary tract symptoms based on International prostatic symptoms scale, suggestive of BPH should undergo clinical evaluation for prostatic size by trans-abdominal sonogram. They should further be evaluated by urine flowmetry for PVR urine to assess the severity of BOO. Complication of BPH includes bladder calculi, renal failure, infection, incontinence, retention, haematuria [5]. So the purpose of this study was to assess the size of the prostate gland in patients with lower urinary tract symptoms and to ...

The COVID-19 pandemic is being a global Heath crisis. The rate of transmission of the disease is very high. At this time there is no specific vaccine or treatment. This widespread outbreak is also associated with psychological distress like depression and anxiety. The effect of COVID 19 on medical students is considerable. The medical students are in a transitory period which could be one of the most stressful times in a person’s life. The aim of this study is to assess the mental health of South Indian medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic and to see if there is any influence of gender on mental health. A cross sectional study was conducted using convenient sampling method. A total of 359 responses were analysed. Anxiety and depression symptoms were assessed based on four point Likert scale. GAD-7 (General Anxiety Disorder-7) scale and CES-D (Center for Epidemiology Studies for Depression) scale is used to assess anxiety and depression symptoms with a small modification respectively. Data analysis was performed using IBM SPSS statistics version 25. Out of 359 participants 50.4% of participants were male and 49.6% of them were females; majority of them (95.3%) were between the age group of 18-21. In total 75.5% and 74.6% of participants showed varying levels of anxiety and depression symptoms respectively. Anxiety and depression symptoms are found to have a mild association with gender. Symptoms are slightly higher among females than males.

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