Macrofilaricidal activity of the stembark of Sfreblus asper and its major active constituents.Drug Dev. Res. 26:67-78, 1992.The crude extract of the stembark of Sfreblus asper, a traditionally used medicinal plant of India, revealed significant macrofilaricidal activity against tifomosoides carinii and Brugia malayi in rodents. The study revealed two cardiac glycosides, KO29 (asperoside) and KO30 (strebloside) of the extract to be responsible for antifilarial activity. Of the two glycosides, the more effective macrofilaricide was KO29 which was active at 50 mgikg orally against L.carinii (>go%), B. malayi (>70%), and Acanfhocheilonema vifeae (>70%) in their respective hosts. The glycosides were also active in vitro against all the three filarial species. Significantly weak activity was detected in glycon and aglycon portions of the parent glycosides (KO29 and K030). Several cardiac glycosides of other origins did not show any comparable antifilarial efficacy. The aglycosidic portion of the extract, however, showed poor adulticidal activity (44.5% activity at 1 gikg against L. carinio. The present finding, thus, opens up the possibility of generating new leads in the development of novel macrofilaricides. o 1992 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) services hard worldwide as it is considered an elective procedure and hence has been given less importance. Other reasons include the risk of transmission of infections, lack of resources, and the scarcity of anesthesiologists due to their diversion to intensive care units to manage COVID-19 patients. However, ECT is an urgent and life-saving measure for patients diagnosed with depression and other severe mental illnesses who have suicidality, catatonia, or require a rapid therapeutic response. COVID-19 pandemic is a significant source of stress for individuals due to its impact on health, employment, and social support resulting in new-onset psychiatric illnesses and the worsening of a pre-existing disorder. Hence, a continuation of the ECT services during the COVID-19 pandemic is of paramount importance. In this narrative review, the authors from India have compiled the literature on the ECT practice during the COVID-19 pandemic related to the screening and testing protocol, necessity of personal protective equipment, modification in ECT Suite, electrical stmulus settings, and anesthesia technique modification. The authors have also shared their experiences with the ECT services provided at their institute during this pandemic. This description will help other institutes to manage the ECT services uninterruptedly and make ECT a safe procedure during the current pandemic.

Introduction:This is an exploratory study, which aimed to analyze urodynamic findings in patients who are on atypical antipsychotics and present with urinary incontinence (UI) in order to understand the mechanisms of antipsychotic-emergent UI.Patients and Methods:Eight patients (34 ± 7.6 years; five males and three females) diagnosed with schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders, who were on risperidone, olanzapine, or clozapine monotherapy and having UI were recruited. Urodynamic study was performed in all patients.Results:Six out of eight (75%) patients had abnormal urodynamic findings. Three of them had detrusor overactivity (DO) without detrusor-sphincter dyssynergia (DSD); two had DO with DSD; and one had hypoactive detrusor with nonrelaxing sphincter during void phase. The common urinary symptoms were urgency, enuresis, and straining to void urine. Significant postvoid residual urine was found in two patients.Conclusion:The evidence of bladder dysfunction in atypical antipsychotic-emergent UI is similar to that present in patients with neurological disorders. Urinary complaints in patients on antipsychotics thus need to be evaluated and managed systematically using the protocol followed for neurological conditions.

Background:Most of the studies have looked into the effect of typical antipsychotics on speech secondary to tardive dyskinesia.Aims:This study was aimed to explore the factors predicting the effect of atypical antipsychotic medications on the production of speech.Materials and Methods:One hundred and forty patients on stable regimen of three or more months on risperidone (92), olanzapine (28), aripiprazole (14), and clozapine (6) were recruited for the study. Speech was assessed by maximum phonation duration task, s/z ratio, diadochokinetic task, acoustic analysis and Frenchay Dysarthria Assessment (FDA). Extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS) were assessed by Simpson Angus scale.Statistical Analysis:Spearman correlation analysis was carried out to find the association between speech parameters and continuous variables. Effect of EPS, duration and dose of antipsychotic treatment on speech parameters was compared using Mann-Whitney test.Results:The risperidone group differ from other antipsychotics groups significantly in s/z ratio (0.07), FDA-total (0.23) and FDA-reflex (0.25). People who took antipsychotic for more than 2 years had lower score of FDA-palate (P = 0.042), and FDA-respiratory (P = 0.04) and higher values in noise-harmonic ratio (P = 0.011) and maximum /fundamental frequency (MFF) for males (P = 0.02). Effect of EPS was seen on MFF for males (spearman correlation coefficient = 0.34) and on almost all sections of FDA (spearman correlation coefficients = -0.2 to -0.33).Conclusion:Both duration of use and propensity of atypical antipsychotics to cause EPS can influence the speech performance of the patients. This information can be useful, particularly in people with the requirement of high quality speech.