Drug-Induced Intracranial Hypertension: The Adverse Effects of Acne Medications and Topical Retinoids.

BACKGROUND: Tetracyclines and vitamin A derivatives, major components in acne care and antiaging products, have been associated with the development of drug-induced intracranial hypertension (DIIH). Treatment practices and longitudinal visual outcomes have been highly understudied in DIIH. The purpose of this study was to provide management guidelines for DIIH and report visual outcomes of patients with DIIH. METHODS: This was a single institute ophthalmology center case-control study where patients were seen between June 1, 2012, and September 1, 2023, in the United States. Patients with an International Classification of Disease (ICD) code for IIH and meeting the IIH diagnostic criteria who were taking a tetracycline or a vitamin A derivative during their diagnosis were included in this study. Patients were stratified into the following 3 categories: tetracyclines only, vitamin A derivatives only, or both, and compared with Kruskal-Wallis rank-sum tests. Poor visual outcomes were evaluated for and defined as a visual field mean deviation (peripheral visual measure) of -7 dB or greater. Individuals were followed for up to 1.5 years after diagnosis. RESULTS: Among patients with IIH (n = 839), DIIH occurred in 8.10% of them (n = 68) with 83% taking the medication for acne. 88% of cases were female, and patients had a mean age of 24.96 years. DIIH medications were taken for an average length of 25.79 weeks before diagnosis of IIH. 20.5% of patients with DIIH were not treated with any IIH medication and were discontinued from the inducing drug. 3 patients had a poor visual outcome on follow-up with all of them taking a vitamin A derivative (P < 0.05). Patients identified as having a poor visual outcome did not report discontinuing the DIIH drug (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: We propose treatment guidelines highlighting that patients taking a DIIH medication who develop headaches or visual changes should be immediately referred to ophthalmology, removal of the offending agent, and close monitoring by ophthalmology for vision loss. Importantly, vitamin A DIIH may have more severe visual outcomes, but further research is needed to corroborate this finding.

Serine protease inhibitor disrupts sperm motility leading to reduced fertility in female mice†.

Inhibition of the sperm transport process in the female reproductive tract could lead to infertility. We previously showed that a pan-serine protease inhibitor, 4-(2-aminoethyl)benzenesulfonyl fluoride (AEBSF), blocked semen liquefaction in vivo and resulted in a drastic decrease in the number of sperm in the oviduct of female mice. In this study, we used a mouse model to test the efficacy of AEBSF as a reversible contraceptive, a sperm motility inhibitor, and a spermicide. Additionally, this study evaluated the toxicity of AEBSF on mouse vaginal tissues in vivo and human endocervical cells in vitro. We found that female mice treated with AEBSF had significantly less pups born per litter as well as fertilization rates in vivo compared to the vehicle control. We then showed that AEBSF reduced sperm motility and fertilization capability in vitro in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, AEBSF also exhibited spermicidal effects. Lastly, AEBSF treatment in female mice for 10 min or 3 consecutive days did not alter vaginal cell viability in vivo, similar to that of the vehicle and non-treated controls. However, AEBSF decreased cell viability of human ectocervical (ECT) cell line in vitro, suggesting that cells in the lower reproductive tract in mice and humans responded differently to AEBSF. In summary, our study showed that AEBSF can be used as a prototype compound for the further development of novel non-hormonal contraceptives for women by targeting sperm transport in the female reproductive tract.

Neonatal intensive care unit incubators reduce language and noise levels more than the womb.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the sound reducing characteristics of modern incubators in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and to better characterize auditory and language exposures for NICU infants. STUDY DESIGN: Sound frequency spectral analysis was conducted on language and noise audio acquired simultaneously inside and outside incubators located in the NICU. RESULTS: Sound transmission into the incubators was nonuniform. Very low-frequency sounds (<100 Hz) were unattenuated or even slightly amplified inside the incubators. Maximal reduction was observed for low-to-mid frequencies (300-600 Hz) and high frequencies (>2000 Hz), which convey important language information. CONCLUSIONS: Sound reductions observed across NICU incubator walls are more severe than those reported for sound transmission into the intrauterine environment, particularly for midrange frequencies that are important for language. Although incubator walls may serve as a protection against noxious noise levels, these findings reveal a potentially detrimental effect on language exposure for infants inside a NICU incubator.

Roles of steroid hormones in oviductal function

The oviduct (known as the fallopian tube in humans) is the site for fertilization and pre-implantation embryo development. Female steroid hormones, estrogen and progesterone, are known to modulate the morphology and function of cells in the oviduct. In this review, we focus on the actions of estrogen and progesterone on secretory, ciliated, and muscle cell functions and morphologies during fertilization, pre-implantation embryo development, and embryo transport in humans, laboratory rodents and farm animals. We review some aspects of oviductal anatomy and histology and discuss current assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) that bypass the oviduct and their effects on embryo quality. Lastly, we review the causes of alterations in secretory, ciliated, and muscle cell functions that could result in embryo transport defects.

Ecological cocktail party listening reveals the utility of extended high-frequency hearing.

A fundamental principle of neuroscience is that each species' and individual's sensory systems are tailored to meet the demands placed upon them by their environments and experiences. What has driven the upper limit of the human frequency range of hearing? The traditional view is that sensitivity to the highest frequencies (i.e., beyond 8 kHz) facilitates localization of sounds in the environment. However, this has yet to be demonstrated for naturally occurring non-speech sounds. An alternative view is that, for social species such as humans, the biological relevance of conspecific vocalizations has driven the development and retention of auditory system features. Here, we provide evidence for the latter theory. We evaluated the contribution of extended high-frequency (EHF) hearing to common ecological speech perception tasks. We found that restricting access to EHFs reduced listeners' discrimination of talker head orientation by approximately 34%. Furthermore, access to EHFs significantly improved speech recognition under listening conditions in which the target talker's head was facing the listener while co-located background talkers faced away from the listener. Our findings raise the possibility that sensitivity to the highest audio frequencies fosters communication and socialization of the human species. These findings suggest that loss of sensitivity to the highest frequencies may lead to deficits in speech perception. Such EHF hearing loss typically goes undiagnosed, but is widespread among the middle-aged population.