APS Publications Podcast

In this episode of The APS Publications Podcast, featuring Advances in Physiology Education, Dr. Raju Suresh Kumar discusses a novel, hands-on simulation designed to teach auditory physiology. By experiencing unilateral conductive hearing loss, students gain deeper insight into auditory masking and sound lateralization. This simple, cost-effective method enhances conceptual understanding and clinical skills, offering strong potential for integration into medical education.

Enhancing auditory physiology: simulating unilateral conduction defects to improve understanding of Rinne’s and Weber’s tests

Raju Suresh Kumar, M. Ganesh Kamath, Rekha Prabhu, and Mohamed Eldigire Ahmed

Advances in Physiology Education 2025 49:3, 689-695

In this podcast, coauthors Liz Simon, Flavia Souza-Smith, Megan Donovan, Eden Gallegos, Kaitlin Couvillon, and Patricia Molina summarize their recently published review article, "Physiological Mechanisms Vulnerable to Alcohol-Induced Alterations: Role in Chronic Comorbidities." The article describes alcohol's multi-systemic physiological effects on the gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and immune systems, as well as on energy metabolism that contribute to multiorgan injury and disease burden.

Physiological Mechanisms Vulnerable to Alcohol-Induced Alterations: Role in Chronic Comorbidities

Liz Simon, Kaitlin E. Couvillion, Meagan E. Donovan, Eden M. Gallegos, Flavia M. Souza-Smith, Patricia E. Molina

Comprehensive Physiology 2025 15:5, e70057 

 https://doi.org/10.1002/cph4.70057

In this podcast, coauthors Simon D. Pouwels and Brady Rae discuss their recently published research article, "Interorgan Communication Between Lung and Colorectal Epithelial Cells Studied Using a Novel Multi-Organ-On-Chip System." The article describes development of a novel unidirectional millifluidic multi-organ-on-chip device to study the communication between human lung epithelial cells and colorectal cells following a toxic stimulus. Authors additionally discuss the versatility of the device to study communication across other cell types.  

Interorgan Communication Between Lung and Colorectal Epithelial Cells Studied Using a Novel Multi-Organ-On-Chip System

Brady Rae, Verena Bood, Hye-Jin Dijk, Gwenda F. Vasse, Barbro N. Melgert, Anika Nagelkerke, Janette K. Burgess, Dirk-Jan Slebos, Irene H. Heijink, Simon D. Pouwels

Comprehensive Physiology 2025 15:5, e70051

https://doi.org/10.1002/cph4.70051

In this episode of the APS Publications Podcast, featuring an article from AJP–Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, author Periklis Marnas discusses inhalation exposure of adult D. melanogaster to cigarette smoke and changes in physiological parameters and the expression of COPD-associated orthologous genes. The study found that transcriptomic responses were more profound in females, indicating sex-specific responses to inhaled toxicants. Furthermore, enrichment analyses of the differentially expressed genes in females pointed to biomolecules associated with response to nicotine and detoxification. D. melanogaster thus provides a powerful model system to test the efficacy of new potential drugs for COPD treatment.

Marnas P, Lüpold S, Giannakou L, Giannopoulos AS, Hatzoglou C, Gourgoulianis KI, Zarogiannis SG, Rouka E. Modeling COPD in Drosophila melanogaster by cigarette smoke inhalation: functional changes and alterations in the expression of COPD-relevant orthologous genes. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2025 Jul 1;329(1):R13-R19. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpregu.00056.2025

In this episode of the APS Publications Podcast, featuring an article from AJP–Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, authors Ziba Taherzadeh and Claire Kissell discuss the influence of race and sex and Cardiac autonomic function. Their study found that non-Hispanic Black adults living in the United States are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease compared with their non-Hispanic White adult counterparts. These results support that reduced cardiac autonomic function does not manifest early in life among young non-Hispanic Black adults, but rather non-Hispanic Black men had greater spontaneous cardiac baroreflex sensitivity and heart rate variability compared with non-Hispanic White men. No differences were found among women.

Taherzadeh Z, Kissell CE, Young BE, Alhalimi TA, Stephens BY, Kaur J, Kao Y, Brothers RM, Fadel PJ. Cardiac autonomic function in young, healthy adults: Influence of race and sex. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2025 May 1;328(5):R611-R618. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpregu.00288.2024

In this episode of the APS Publications Podcast, featuring an article from AJP–Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, authors Andrea Zsombok, Lucie Desmoulins, and Adrien Molinas discuss the role of estradiol treatment in regulating metabolism and glucose homeostasis. In their study with middle-aged, high-fat diet-fed, ovariectomized female mice, the authors found that liver-related neurons in the hypothalamus became more excitable. Estradiol treatment reduced this excitability, suggesting that midlife estradiol therapy may support healthier brain-liver metabolic regulation.

Molinas AJR, Desmoulins LD, Dugas CM, Williams GL, Kamenetsky S, Felintro de Souza V, Maroteaux MJ, Davis RK, Daniel JM, Schrader LA, Zsombok A. Midlife estradiol treatment reduces the firing rate of liver-related PVN neurons in ovariectomized high-fat diet-fed mice. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2025 Aug 1;329(2):R245-R252. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpregu.00117.2025

In this episode of The APS Publications Podcast, coauthors Matthew A. Hadiono, Alexis B. Kazen, Fatima A. Aboulalazm, and John R. Kirby discuss their recent study, "Reutericyclin mitigates risperidone-induced suppression of anaerobic energy expenditure," published in AJP–Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology.

The authors explore how the gut microbiome, a thermogenic biomass, plays a critical role in regulating energy expenditure. Their study shows that the composition of the microbial community, influenced by both xenobiotics and bacterial metabolites, can impact metabolic function. They found that treatment with reutericyclin counteracts the suppression of anaerobic energy expenditure caused by risperidone. These findings suggest that reutericyclin may offer a new therapeutic approach for managing obesity.

Tune in to learn more about the gut microbiome’s role in energy balance and the potential for microbiota-targeted therapies.

American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology 2025 328:6, R741-R757

In this episode of The APS Publications Podcast, coauthors John J. Durocher and Ezra Mutai discuss the Editorial Focus titled "Sleep tight with vitamin D’s might" published in AJP–Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology. The conversation centers on a recent study by Culver et al., which examines the relationship between vitamin D levels and reduced sleep variability.

Tune in to hear how these findings shed light on the potential link between vitamin D status and consistent sleep patterns.

American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology 2025 328:5, R557-R558

In this episode of The APS Publications Podcast, coauthors Alexander A. Buelow and J. Mikhail Kellawan discuss their recent study, "Inhibition of CYP450 pathways reduces functional sympatholysis in healthy young adults," published in AJP–Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology.

They explore how functional sympatholysis, which has traditionally been considered independent of nitric oxide and prostaglandins, may actually involve endothelial CYP450 pathways. Their findings show that inhibition of CYP450-2C9 reduces sympatholytic responses during dynamic handgrip exercise combined with lower body negative pressure. This suggests that CYP450 plays an important role in regulating blood flow during exercise in healthy individuals.

Tune in for insights into vascular physiology, research methodology, and the broader implications of these findings for cardiovascular research.

American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology 2025 328:6, R642-R650

In this podcast, coauthors Emma Elizabeth Sabu Kattuman, Lakshminarayan Reddy Teegala, Somayeh Darzi, Charles K Thodeti, and Sailaja Paruchuri talk about their recently published review, "Leukotrienes: bridging the inflammatory gap in asthma and inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD)." The review highlights how altered leukotriene biosynthesis and signaling contribute to the pathogenesis of both asthma and IBD, and considers the therapeutic implications of targeting leukotriene pathways for patients with concurrent asthma and IBD.

Leukotrienes: Bridging the Inflammatory Gap in Asthma and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD)

Comprehensive Physiology 2025 15:3, e70022

https://doi.org/10.1002/cph4.70022