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Background/Objectives: Dizziness and vertigo are reported in about half of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Orthostatic dysregulation (OD) is recognized as one of the comorbidities that causes dizziness or vertigo with IBD. Our hospital is affiliated with the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center, which specializes in diagnosing and treating IBD, so cases with dizziness or vertigo symptoms associated with IBD are sometimes referred to our department, a type of department which is rare in other facilities. The objective of this study is to evaluate IBD cases with dizziness or vertigo symptoms referred to a vertigo outpatient clinic in terms of vestibular function and OD. Methods: The subjects were 221 patients who were referred to the vertigo outpatient clinic of our department from March 2021 to September 2024. Results: Of the 221 patients, 9 cases had CD and 1 case had UC. OD complications were significantly more common in the IBD group than in the non-IBD group, whereas complications of psychogenic vertigo or migraine were not significantly different between groups, and there was no difference in vestibular dysfunction between groups. OD was a complication in all cases using ustekinumab. Conclusions: An orthostatic test will be valuable for diagnosing OD in IBD patients with dizziness or vertigo symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: On computed tomography (CT), sinonasal schwannoma displays as a soft-tissue mass without any distinctive features. Our aim was to define the radiological criteria for distinguishing schwannoma from other sinonasal benign tumours.Methods: We retrospectively identified consecutive patients who were pathologically diagnosed with benign sinonasal tumours between 2007 and 2016. CT attenuation values were compared between benign tumours and the brainstem. The utilities of demographic factors, clinical factors, and CT parameters for predicting the CT attenuation values of the brainstem were analysed by univariate and multivariate regression.Results: Of the 111 identified cases of benign tumours, the CT attenuation values of tumours and the brainstem were analysed in 36 cases (schwannoma, 4 cases; inverted papilloma, 26; juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma, 3; cavernous haemangioma, 3). The CT attenuation values of the schwannomas were significantly lower than in the brainstem, while those of the other tumours were significantly higher than in the brainstem. No factors affected the CT attenuation values of the brainstem.Conclusion: Low CT attenuation values of sinonasal benign tumours relative to the brainstem could distinguish schwannomas from other benign tumours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons in the basal forebrain are the final common pathway through which the brain regulates reproduction. GnRH secretion occurs in a pulsatile manner, and indirect evidence suggests the kisspeptin neurons in the arcuate nucleus (ARC) serve as the central pacemaker that drives pulsatile GnRH secretion. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possible coexpression of kisspeptin, neurokinin B (NKB), and dynorphin A (Dyn) in neurons of the ARC of the goat and evaluate their potential roles in generating GnRH pulses. Using double and triple labeling, we confirmed that all three neuropeptides are coexpressed in the same population of neurons. Using electrophysiological techniques to record multiple-unit activity (MUA) in the medial basal hypothalamus, we found that bursts of MUA occurred at regular intervals in ovariectomized animals and that these repetitive bursts (volleys) were invariably associated with discrete pulses of luteinizing hormone (LH) (and by inference GnRH). Moreover, the frequency of MUA volleys was reduced by gonadal steroids, suggesting that the volleys reflect the rhythmic discharge of steroid-sensitive neurons that regulate GnRH secretion. Finally, we observed that central administration of Dyn-inhibit MUA volleys and pulsatile LH secretion, whereas NKB induced MUA volleys. These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that kisspeptin neurons in the ARC drive pulsatile GnRH and LH secretion, and suggest that NKB and Dyn expressed in those neurons are involved in the process of generating the rhythmic discharge of kisspeptin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The male red-bellied newt (Cynops pyrrhogaster) approaches the female's cloaca prior to performing any courtship behaviour, as if he is using some released substance to gauge whether she is sexually receptive. Therefore, we investigated whether such a female sexual attractiveness pheromone exists. We found that a tripeptide with amino acid sequence Ala-Glu-Phe is secreted by the ciliary cells in the epithelium of the proximal portion of the oviduct of sexually developed newts and confirmed that this is the major active substance in water in which sexually developed female newts have been kept. This substance only attracted sexually developed male newts and acted by stimulating the vomeronasal epithelial cells. This is the first female sexual attractiveness peptide pheromone to be identified in a vertebrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Three types of cDNA encoding the arginine vasotocin (AVT) receptors from the newt, Cynops pyrrhogaster were cloned and the gene expression of each receptor analyzed in the organs and tissues of the newt. The deduced amino acid sequence of one type of AVT receptor, consisting of 418 amino acid residues, showed a high degree of sequence identity with the mammalian arginine vasopressin (AVP) V1a receptors (61–68%). The second type of cDNA, encoding an amino acid sequence consisting of 367 amino acid residues, exhibited a relatively high sequence identity with mammalian AVP V2 receptors (50–51%). The third cDNA, encoding a sequence of 415 amino acid residues, possessed high sequence identity with mammalian AVP V3/V1b receptors (59–63%). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the first, second and third types of receptor were close to mammalian AVP V1a, V2 and V3/V1b receptors, respectively, and RT-PCR using gene specific primers for each type of receptor indicated that the first and second types of receptor mRNA were expressed in various organs and tissues, including the circulatory, osmoregulatory, and reproductive organs of both male and female newts. In contrast, mRNA expression of the third cDNA was mainly detected in the brain and pituitary, and its expression pattern was distinctly different from that of the other two. We suggest that the first, second and third types of newt AVT receptor obtained in the present study are counterparts of mammalian AVP V1a, V2 and V3/V1b receptors, respectively. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]