Journal of Neurobiology and Physiology

Functional proteomics of seminal plasma has been reviewed by Samanta and co-workers, highlighting greater biologic relevancy and diverse functions of this seminal component to reproductive biology than previously thought. Although not requested for successful fertilization, important biological functions are associated with seminal plasma and the authors suggested that selected proteins may serve as diagnostic biomarkers for various conditions.

Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) was initially discovered as a cellular protein involved in the detoxification of xenobiotic compounds. Recently, Kou and Dai [1] wrote a concise review on AHR, summarizing advances in several important areas of mammalian physiology including cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, integumentary, nervous, and immunomodulatory systems. Given the importance of AHR and our increased understanding of its physiological roles, it is necessary to highlight a few key aspects of AhR in normal development and metabolic homeostasis that have not been extensively discussed.

Enteric duplication cysts are rare congenital malformations of the gastrointestinal tract that can be found anywhere along the entire alimentary canal. Duplication cysts share a muscular layer with the adjacent bowel and contain their own mucosal lining which may be that of any part of the alimentary tract. 

Spinal dural arteriovenous fistulae (sdAVFs) are rare (5-10 per million per year), often misdiagnosed vascular lesions most commonly found in the thoracolumbar spine [1-7]. These lesions commonly present with progressive myelopathy in male (approximately 80%) patients who are usually in their 7th decade of life [3-6,8]. 

Human biology reveals its greatest subtleties when it challenges our assumptions. Few topics exemplify this more clearly than transgender physiology, a field that compels us to revisit long-held ideas about sex, gender, and the development of identity. For physiologists, this area is no longer peripheral.