The aim of the present study was to explore a psychobiological perspective in the aetiology of social phobia. The emphasis was on serotonergic function and personality. A total of 20 social phobics according to ICD-10 DCR criteria were assessed with the Schedule for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry and the International Personality Disorder Examination. They were compared with an age-matched normal population with regard to scores on the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale, the Social Avoidance and Distress Scale, the Temperament and Character Inventory, and platelet 5HT2 receptor function. Other Axis-I disorders and cluster C personality disorders were frequently encountered. The social phobia group was characterized by high levels of harm avoidance, and low levels of novelty seeking, co-operativeness and self-directedness. Platelet 5HT2 receptor density did not differentiate between the groups, but was associated with severity of social phobia. An integrated psychobiological model is presented.

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Globally, shortage of organs available for organ transplantation is a major problem. Studies assessing awareness and attitudes towards organ donation are limited from India. The aim of this study is to assess gender differences in the perceptions and attitude of general population toward organ donation. A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out among randomly selected patient relatives (n = 193) at the outpatient department of a tertiary care center. Data were collected through face-to-face interview using a structured questionnaire. Our findings revealed that majority of men than women were aware and in favor of promoting organ donation (χ2 = 10.428, P < 0.001). Best part of men (70.9%) compared to 52.3% of women were willing to donate their organs after death (χ2 = 18.080, P <0.001). Similarly, more number of (48.5%) men were willing to sign on the organ donation card. There is an urgent need to uncover the myths and misconceptions of the general population toward organ donation. Further, healthcare providers and governmental and nongovernmental agencies should take active initiation in motivating the public to give their consent for organ donation.

Congenital heart disease (CHD) describes a huge set of structural and functional abnormalities that arises during cardio embryogenesis. Low levels of maternal vitamin B12 can disturb the homeostasis of the fetal folate metabolism pathway. The gene CUBN encodes for the intrinsic factor– cobalamin receptor (cubilin), which acts as a receptor for intrinsic factor to many compounds such as vitamin B12.Main aim of our study was to analyze association of CUBN G253A (rs1801222) variant with maternal serum folate, vitamin B12 and homocysteine (Hcy) levels and thereby its link with congenital heart defects. 110 pregnant women with vitamin B12 deficiency and carrying fetuses with CHD and equal number of age matched healthy women were selected as cases and control subjects respectively. Maternal serum folate, vitamin B12 and homocysteine levels as well as genetic polymorphism CUBN G253 → A were assessed. In the present study, it was observed that cases with GA genotype, A allele under the dominant (p=<0.001) and allelic models (p<0.001) respectively and cases with AA genotype under the co-dominant (p<0.01) and recessive models (p<0.001) demonstrated an increased risk of an offspring with CHD. Furthermore, while cases with GA and AA genotypes of CUBN G253A variant showed significantly elevated Homocysteine, it was observed that all the CHD case mothers were vitamin B12 deficient irrespective of the CUBN genotype.

Background: Depression is a significant public health problem. It is estimated by the World Health Organization that more than 300 million people suffer from depression globally. Micronutrient deficiencies have been constantly linked to depression. The currently used drugs in treatment of depression modulate the excitatory and/or the inhibitory neurotransmission pathways through different mechanisms. The aim of the present study was to compare the antidepressant effect of the micronutrients, zinc and vitamin B6, as adjuvants to Fluoxetine in Albino Wistar rats.Methods: Eighteen albino wistar rats of 180-280grams of either sex were used in the study to evaluate the anti-depressant activity after approval from the Institutional Animal Ethics Committee. They were divided into three groups of six rats each (3 groups). Group 1 was control group which received only distilled water, group 2 was standard group which received fluoxetine and group 3 was test group which received zinc, vitamin B6 and fluoxetine. The anti-depressant activity was measured using the forced swimming test (FST) which works on the principles of behavioral despair. Data analysis was done using IBM SPSS software, version 25.0 and p value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: The rats of the standard and test groups had latency periods’ means of 268.83±30.16, 126.17±22.33 and 125.33±11.86 on 254.83±13.00, 118.67±8.16 and 127.17±6.68 seconds on days 1, 7 and 14 respectively (p <0.001) and the rats of the standard and test groups had despair periods’ means of 177.00±7.46, 95.17±10.65, 93.17±7.47and 167.17±14.82, 97.33±7.63 and 87.50±4.1 seconds on days 1, 7 and 14 respectively (p <0.001).Conclusions: Supplementation of zinc and vitamin B6 to the standard treatment fluoxetine yielded better anti-depressant activity than fluoxetine alone in rats subjected to stress.