Unraveling the Potential of EphA4: A Breakthrough Target and Beacon of Hope for Neurological Diseases.

Erythropoietin-producing hepatocellular carcinoma A4 (EphA4) is a transmembrane receptor protein which is a part of the most prominent family of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs). It serves a crucial role in both physiological, biological, and functional states binding with their ligand like Ephrins. Its abundance in the majority of the body's systems has been reported. Moreover, it draws much attention in the CNS since it influences axonal and vascular guidance. Also, it has a widespread role at the pathological state of various CNS disorders. Reports suggest it obstructs axonal regeneration in various neurodegenerative diseases and neurological disorders. Although, neuro-regeneration is still an open challenge to the modern drug discovery community.  Hence, in this review, we will provide information about the role of EphA4 in neurological diseases by which it may emerge as a therapeutic target for CNS disease. We will also provide a glance at numerous signaling pathways that activate or inhibit the EphA4-associated biological processes contributing to the course of neurodegenerative diseases. Thus, this work might serve as a basis for futuristic studies that are related to the target-based drug discovery in the field of neuro-regeneration. Pathological and physiological events associated with EphA4 and Ephrin upregulation and interaction.

Rhinomaxillary mucormycosis presenting as palatal ulcer: A case report with comprehensive pathophysiology.

Mucormycosis is an emerging fungal infection which has exceptionally high mortality rates in immunocompromised patients and remains a life-threatening infection in uncontrolled diabetics. The reported cases in literature may be less in number due to its frequent misdiagnosis. Imaging techniques in the early stages are usually nondiagnostic and cytological smears are not very reliable, thus, the gold standard for definitive diagnosis remains with the histopathological examination. A thorough understanding of the pathogenesis and host fungus interaction aids in the histopathological evaluation and clinical management. Despite of surgical and medical management, the overall mortality rate remains high in persistently immunocompromised individuals. We present a case report of a 58-year-old female patient with rhinomaxillary mucormycosis with a history of uncontrolled diabetes.

Candidal carriage in diabetic patients: a microbiological study.

OBJECTIVE: Candida yeast species are widespread opportunistic microbes and incidence of its carriage in diabetic patients compared with non-diabetic controls is not clearly defined. The present study was carried out to isolate and identify the candida species in type I, type II diabetes mellitus patients and in controls. Study comprised of 60 subjects in the age range of 20 to 65 years, consisting of two groups of diabetes patients with controlled diabetic status (20 subjects each with type I and type II) and 20 age and sex matched controls. Saliva samples were collected from all groups and inoculated on Sabouraud's Dextrose Agar (SDA) to check for the fungus growth. The confirmed candidal colonies were further inoculated on CHROMagar for different colour differentiation. Out of 60 samples, 40 (66.67%) showed a positive fungal prevalence. Out of 40 positive fungal prevalence 82.50% were representative of candida. The positive fungal prevalence for candida I was 48.48%, in group II was 30.30%, in group III was 21.21 %. Further speciation in CHROMagar revealed different species of candida predominantly of candida albicans 20% and few mixed culture of candida albicans with candida krusei 5% and candida albicans with candida tropicalis 5% in group I. In group II, candida albicans was 35% and mixed culture of candida albicans with candida glabrata was 5%. In group III, candida albicans was 25% and candida tropicalis was 5%. The findings confirm that diabetic patients harbor yeast in their oral cavity and are more susceptible to oral candidiasis and also that CHROMagar medium is a satisfactory isolation medium for oral cavity specimens, allowing rapid and accurate identification of yeast colonies with easy recognition of mixed culture and is easy to use.

Dental age estimation methods in adult dentitions: An overview.

Age estimation is one of the essential factors in human identification. Teeth bestowed with features such as hardness and resilience to external factors such as chemicals, putrefaction, and fire explosions serve as a durable source in age estimation. Concurrently, they present with peculiar and comparable features of age-associated regressive changes along with dental procedures, which make them a mirror reflection of age changes from cradle to the grave of an individual. Age estimation in adults poses an enigma to the forensic dentists because as the age advances, the dentitions get influenced by numerous exogenous and endogenous factors which may lead to discrepancies between dental age and chronologic age. Since 1950, many authors have presented various methods for assessing age of individuals above 18 years. Here is an overview of the different methods with their application and limitations along with a mention of newer methods developed and tested with the formulation of population-specific formulas by Indian authors. The data have been sourced from different journal articles retrieved through Google Scholar and PubMed Central and articles received as study materials during the fellowship program in forensic odontology using keywords such as age estimation, adult dentitions, dentin translucency, and cementum annulations.

Role of viruses in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

The etiology of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is complex and involves many factors. The most clearly defined risk factors are smoking and alcohol, which substantially increase the risk of oral SCC. However, despite this clear association, a substantial proportion of patients develop OSCC without exposure to them, emphasizing the role of other risk factors such as genetic susceptibility and oncogenic viruses. Some viruses are strongly associated with OSCC while the association of others is less frequent and may depend on co-factors for their carcinogenic effects. Therefore, the exact role of viruses must be evaluated with care in order to improve the diagnosis and treatment of OSCC.