In 1945, Homer W. Smith published an article in the JCI that clearly demonstrated that para-aminohippuric acid is the most suitable agent for the evaluation of renal plasma flow in both humans and dogs; in addition, the paper provided detailed methodology that is still in use today. This paper is but one of many outstanding works performed by Smith and his colleagues that clearly established th...

Yes, even the JCI can weigh in on celebrity gossip, but hopefully without becoming a tabloid. Rather, we want to shine a light on the reckless comments actor Tom Cruise has recently made that psychiatry is a "quack" field and his belief that postpartum depression cannot be treated pharmacologically. We can only hope that his influence as a celebrity does not hold back those in need of psychiatr...

Traditional remedies for common disorders have been known for centuries, but insight into their mechanism of action is often limited. In this issue of the JCI, Joost Schalkwijk's research group at the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre in The Netherlands advances our understanding of why topical coal tar is an effective treatment for atopic dermatitis (AD), both rationalizing the use of...

A shortcoming in the clinical use of organic nitrates is the development of tolerance. Recent data have suggested that the denitrification of organic nitrates is mediated by mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase and that dysfunction of this enzyme is an important cause of tolerance. In this issue of the JCI, evidence in support of this hypothesis is presented in an in vivo model of nitrate toler...

In this issue of JCI, two independent groups describe the effects of germline and liver-specific deletion of Mir122a, the predominant liver miRNA. Their findings reveal a critical role for miR-122 in fat and cholesterol metabolism but suggest that other metabolic actions of the liver are independent of miR-122. Knockout mice also displayed hepatic inflammation, fibrosis, and a high incidence of...

Cellular senescence induced by different stresses and telomere shortening appears to play an important role in the aging process. The products of the INK4a/ARF locus--p16INK4a and ARF--arrest cell proliferation at the senescence stage by exerting their effects on retinoblastoma protein- and p53-mediated responsive pathways. A study in this issue of the JCI provides experimental evidence of a sp...

In 1956, the JCI published a paper by Richard Havel, Howard Eder, and Joseph Bragdon on a method using an ultracentrifuge to physically separate plasma lipoproteins and chemical methods to analyze their lipid constituents. This paper has been much cited (7081 times as of this writing) in part because it represents a solid method that, with various modifications, has been applicable for the stud...

Alteration of the ERα/ERβ balance is a critical step in breast cancer development and progression, and selective restoration of the activity of estrogen receptors has been proposed as one of the major therapeutic approaches for breast cancer. In this issue of JCI, Cheng et al. show that, by differentially modulating the stability of ERα and ERβ, PES1 increases the ERα/ERβ ratio and triggers bre...

Recently, the small protein alpha hemoglobin-stabilizing protein (AHSP) was identified and found to specifically bind alpha-globin, stabilize its structure, and limit the toxic effects of excess alpha-globin, which are manifest in the inherited blood disorder beta thalassemia. In this issue of the JCI, Yu, Weiss, and colleagues show that AHSP is also critical to the formation and stabilization ...

Epidemiological studies have identified racial differences in susceptibility to numerous diseases, including several ocular and skin diseases characterized by increased vascular growth. In most cases, the specific mechanisms and genetic variants responsible for these differences have remained elusive. In this issue of the JCI, Adini et al. explore a direct connection between skin pigmentation a...