ABSTRACT
Ocimumn sanctum, an Indian medicinal plant, has been on trial for its role in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in hospital based clinical set-up. Hamilton's brief psychiatric rating scale (BPRS) and thorough clinical investigations were used to screen the subjects. Thirty-five subjects (21 male and 14 female; average age 38.4 years) were medicated with the plant extract in a fixed dose regime (500 mg/capsule, twice daily, p.o. after meal). They were thoroughly investigated clinically and using standard questionnaires based on different psychological rating scale at baseline (day 0), mid-term (day 30) and final (day 60). The observations exhibited that, O. sanctum significantly (p<0.001) attenuated generalized anxiety disorders and also attenuated its correlated stress and depression. It further significantly (p<0.001) improved the willingness to adjustment and attention in human. Therefore, it may be concluded that O. sanctum may be useful in the treatment of GAD in human and may be a promising anxiolytic agent in near future.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Adult , Anxiety Disorders/drug therapy , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Ocimum , Phytotherapy , Plant Extracts/therapeutic use , Plant Leaves , Treatment Outcome , Young AdultABSTRACT
Postictal values of plasma prolactin levels were measured in 15 children with generalized seizures, 8 children with pseudoseizures and 6 control subjects. In patients with generalized seizure, the mean plasma prolactin level was 28.6 +/- 2.3 ng/ml, whereas in patients with pseudoseizures and in controls, its mean values were 10.4 +/- 3.8 ng/ml and 9.8 +/- 2.6 ng/ml, respectively. Thus, prolactin levels were significantly (p < 0.001) elevated following generalized seizures but were almost normal following pseudoseizures. Plasma prolactin levels may, therefore, be helpful in differentiating between generalized seizures and pseudoseizures.
Subject(s)
Biomarkers/blood , Case-Control Studies , Child , Child, Preschool , Diagnosis, Differential , Epilepsy, Generalized/blood , Humans , Prolactin/blood , Seizures/bloodABSTRACT
Postictal serum prolactin and cortisol levels were estimated in 73 children having either epilepsy, febrile seizures, breath-holding spells, or fever without other manifestation and in 20 normal controls. Mean serum prolactin levels (28.6 +/- 2.3 ng/ml) were significantly higher (p < 0.001) in the epileptic group than in the group with febrile seizures (12.7 +/- 2.8 ng/ml), non-specific febrile illness (12.2 +/- 2.4 ng/ml), breath-holding spells (8.8 +/- 1.1 ng/ml) and normal controls (9.8 +/- 2.6 ng/ml). Mean serum cortisol levels were non-specifically elevated in children with epilepsy (32.8 +/- 2.2 ug/dl), febrile convulsion (34.2 +/- 4.1 ug/dl) and non-specific febril illness (30.6 +/- 2.4 ug/dl). Our observations suggest that elevated prolactin levels associated with afebrile epileptic seizures may help in differentiating epilepsy from febrile seizures and breath-holding spells. Cortisol levels appear to be non-specifically elevated in all stressful conditions.
Subject(s)
Child , Child, Preschool , Epilepsy/blood , Female , Humans , Hydrocortisone/blood , Infant , Male , Prolactin/blood , Seizures/blood , Seizures, Febrile/bloodABSTRACT
A pair-matched controlled study was done with 30 children (15 males, 15 females) of mild to moderate PEM in test and equal number in control groups, aged 8-24 months old. At the beginning, in both test and control groups parents were advised to provide sufficient amount of home cooked foods so that the child received on an average 100-150 Kcal/kg/day of energy and 2-3 g/kg/day of protein. Vitamin supplements were provided to all children in both groups. In addition, the test group received a supplementation of 5.625 mg of elemental zinc daily orally while controls received a placebo. Evaluation at the end of 3 months showed that children in test group had a weight gain of 3.742 +/- 0.488 kg against 2.035 +/- 0.383 kg of the control group. Similarly, weight velocity was 5.752 +/- 0.818 g/kg/day in test group against 3.153 +/- 0.617 g/kg/day of the control group. These differences in weight gain and weight velocity were highly significant (p < 0.001). Serum zinc levels, initially and at the end of study were 87.5 +/- 9.6 micrograms/dl and 121.0 +/- 10.1 micrograms/dl, respectively in test group in comparison to 91.2 +/- 9.8 micrograms/dl and 91.0 +/- 10.1 micrograms/dl in controls. This difference was also highly significant (p < 0.001). The daily total calorie intake remained comparable in both groups. Our observations suggest that zinc supplementation during nutritional rehabilitation of mild to moderate PEM hastens the recovery.